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“Heck Who Knows?”: Champ Kyle Larson Teases NASCAR Exit With Wager to F1 Boss

Published 02/03/2023, 8:01 AM EST

McLaren has become notorious in recent years for having a large pool of reserve drivers. And it is keeping up with its tradition this year as well, signing former Haas driver Mick Schumacher. But there has been a rather peculiar observation inside the Woking camp, and that is that several drivers from NASCAR are testing F1 cars with the team. And though he hasn’t snagged one such opportunity yet, NASCAR champion Kyle Larson hopes to get one soon.

Previously, Pato O’Ward, Colton Herta, and Alex Palou got their chance with McLaren. Kyle Larson is now looking to place a wager with McLaren boss Zak Brown in order to realize his dream of driving in Formula 1. Although the driver made it clear that there is nothing on the cards for now regarding any trials with the McLaren F1 team.

Kyle Larson appeared in the Race’s IndyCar podcast and revealed information about his talks with Zak and his aspirations, saying, “No, not yet. I would love to [test an F1 car] I just haven’t mentioned anything to him yet. But yeah, maybe that’s something I have to wager, I guess, to him but that would be so cool if I could get the chance to just test an F1 car.”

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“But honestly if I could race in Formula 1 someday that would be unbelievable. It’s probably not realistic but heck, who knows? I mean I would love to and that would be a cool opportunity.”

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This year’s list of McLaren reserves is fairly short. Maybe the message sent through this podcast can help Larson get a reserve role and an eventual drive in Formula 1.

Zak Brown thanks Drive to Survive for F1 popularity

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Zak Brown has been McLaren’s CEO since 2018, and other than in Formula 1, under his leadership, the team has expanded a lot in the IndyCar series in the United States. Now the team runs Arrow McLaren in IndyCar as a part of its expansion into the North American market.

Asking why they did so, Brown said, “A lot thanks to Drive to Survive, the Netflix show, but we felt we wanted to have a larger presence in North America than all the other Formula 1 team.”

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Now, Larson has already partnered with McLaren for the Indy 500. Whether their partnership transcends into F1 or not can certainly not be predicted. The chances also remain low given the starting lineup and the already stacked backup list.

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Written by:

Manan Goel is a Formula 1 author at EssentiallySports. As a literature student at Delhi University, he had been a geek for fiction and a nerd for sports. He claims Sebastian Vettel was his first love after seeing him at the Indian Grand Prix, and he has been a fan of the sport and Red Bull ever since.

Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai

“Heck Who Knows?”: Champ Kyle Larson Teases NASCAR Exit With Wager to F1 Boss

Zak Brown thanks Drive to Survive for F1 popularity

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