Kyle Larson addresses interest in F1 driver swap

With all of the talk about Kyle Larson vs. Max Verstappen – what is the interest level from the NASCAR star in driving an F1 car? Well, it turns out, he’s interested and so is McLaren in helping make it happen.

Kyle Larson went on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour earlier this week and detailed his desire to compete in F1. Jimmie Johnson got a chance to drive Fernando Alonso’s car years ago. But Larson might have a better chance at actually competing in one.

McLaren Racing CEO, Zak Brown spoke to Harvick about putting Larson in an F1 car. So, it isn’t out of the question, it appears. Larson has an interesting take on the whole situation.

“I would love to do it, and it sounds like hopefully, I’ll get to it down the road. I think it was an option this year, I just have so much going on. It’s like something that I need to plan probably a year in advance or more,” Larson said to Kevin Harvick.

“I would like to, but, honestly, I would rather do it on one of those open test-style deals like after Abu Dhabi when other drivers are on the track, too. … I think that driver swaps are really cool, but you don’t really have like a bar. You don’t have a gauge of where you stack up to others who do it. It would be fun to do that with Oscar [Piastri] or Lando [Norris] or whoever, but I would love to strap in with 19 other cars out there and really see where you’re at on the speed charts.”

Kyle Larson is always looking to measure himself against others. He qualified P5 for his first-ever Indianapolis 500 and was on his way to a potential top-five finish before a pit road penalty. All he wants is a chance to compare himself against the best.

“Obviously, I don’t think that I would be the best, but I would hope to not be last,” Larson continued. “I think that would show how good American oval racers are and unique, or if I was really bad, then it would just show how bad we are.”

Kyle Larson is a multi-faceted racer. Dirt, pavement, Sprint Car, open-wheel, stock cars – Larson has done it all. He’s succeeded in it all. I think if you put Larson into an F1 car, he surely wouldn’t be the slowest on the track.

How well could Larson do in F1? Would he be a threat to run top-10?