Moments after admitting that he is making an attempt to get Kyle Larson right into a check behind the wheel of his McLaren F1 automobile, the crew’s CEO Zak Brown has additional admitted that his personal Oscar Piastri is concerned about Larson’s motorsport residence: NASCAR.
Speaking on Kevin Harvick’s Blissful Hour podcast, the American businessman stirred pleasure and hypothesis as he dropped the Australian’s title into the dialog.
Brown has been vocal about his aspirations to see McLaren make an impression in NASCAR, beginning with probably collaborating within the prestigious Daytona 500. He’s critical about this chance, having already established a partnership with Hendrick Motorsports, which is understood for its dominance in NASCAR.
“I would wish to have a relationship with [Rick Hendrick’s] crew eternally as a result of they’re superior,” Brown said.
Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Photographs
Oscar Piastri, at present in his second 12 months in F1, has admitted his curiosity in inventory automobile racing. Desirous to comply with within the footsteps of fellow F1 drivers like Kimi Raikkonen and Kamui Kobayashi, who themselves transitioned to inventory automobile racing, the Australian’s enthusiasm for NASCAR is now identified.
“Oscar appears to be [the driver for Daytona 500]. I imply they each like to drive the whole lot. However Oscar’s sort of knocked on my door just a little bit about his pleasure round NASCAR. So I believe if we have been to do one thing with Kyle and one in all our Formulation One drivers, it’d in all probability most probably be Oscar.”
I’ve loads of questions relating to the potential line-up for McLaren’s entry on the Daytona 500. Will it’s Piastri taking the wheel, or might it’s one of many American open-wheel stars from Arrow-McLaren? There’s additionally the potential of Lando Norris, one other McLaren F1 driver, stepping as much as the problem.
Daniel Ricciardo, a veteran Australian F1 driver, might complicate this just a little additional. Ricciardo, identified for his historic curiosity in NASCAR—having as soon as pushed Dale Earnhardt’s 1984 Chevy Monte Carlo—is also a possible driver for this seat.
Whereas at present unsure about his contract extension with VCARB’s F1 crew past the tip of this season, he has typically teased a change to NASCAR.
“Would I wish to compete? Sure and no,” he said. “I additionally know that it isn’t what I grew up doing, and I’d in all probability get smoked so like, I do not know if I would like that, however I’d like to expertise it.”
At present, Ricciardo is flying into 2025 with no contract. And along with his seat being eyed up by Crimson Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson, it could even be this weekend on the Singapore Grand Prix the place the way forward for Ricciardo on this sport is confirmed to be coming to an finish. After struggling to maintain up along with his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, it could come as no shock.
