NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson is arguably America’s greatest racing driver. Johnson has conquered NASCAR with seven record-breaking Cup titles. At 46, he’s still wheel-to-wheel in IndyCar, but he recently revealed that instead of IndyCar’s AeroScreen, it could have been the Formula 1 halo if things had worked out.
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In a recent interview with Graham Bensinger, Johnson revealed that he was so in love with his first experience driving an F1 car that he started asking about opportunities to compete in Formula 1.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown was also on board with this idea.
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“At the time, McLaren CEO Zak Brown was open to my taking the Formula One path,” Johnson recalled.
Johnson also described that IndyCar driving wasn’t his first choice after all. The former stock car racing driver remembered his first experiences with a McLaren Formula 1 car, which opened him up to the idea of open-wheel racing cars.
“Being an open-wheel, high-downforce car just blew me away when I got the chance to drive the McLaren F1 in the car in Bahrain.”
Johnson announced that McLaren, who also has a team in IndyCar, also gave him his first IndyCar experience. That single-seat racing car experience led him to find the energy to pursue IndyCar.
“In the beginning it was really my first opportunity to drive an IndyCar, the McLaren IndyCar.”
But why didn’t Jimmie Johnson make it into Formula 1?
Despite being backed by Zak Brown, the racing talent and dedication to success, Johnson couldn’t end up behind a Formula 1 car. The reason is quite simple.
To drive an F1 car, a driver must acquire an FIA super license, which Johnson, despite all his success at NASCAR, didn’t have.
“.. when I realized what it takes to get the license, to get through the European Racing Series, to collect enough points to earn the license to drive the Formula 1 car, thought I think it’s not going to work. “
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It’s no secret that Liberty Media is on a mission to make F1 the most popular motor sport on US soil. And they have a lot of success.
But as the race in Mexico showed, a local driver will be the next step.
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There are currently many candidates for an American driver in Formula 1, but if it had been Jimmie Johnson, Formula 1 could be guaranteed a home run in the United States.
The post No Age: Jimmie Johnson reveals the biggest obstacle to his F1 dream despite McLaren’s strong support first appeared on monter-une-startup.
