Lewis Hamilton admits he would love to take part in a NASCAR race “one day” after being an impressed spectator for the series’ season finale.
Hamilton flew to Miami to support Jeff Gordon last week ahead of the four-time NASCAR champion’s final race in the series. The Mercedes driver is known to be an avid fan of America and American culture but has not raced outside of F1 since making his debut in 2007.
Hamilton admits he has ambitions to follow in Gordon’s footsteps at some point in the future.
“It was a really cool event, I hope I get to do one one day,” Hamilton said ahead of this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The reigning three-time world champion thinks there is a lot Formula One can learn from NASCAR, especially the access it gives to the fans.
“I don’t know, I would have to really think about that but there are definitely things they do a lot better than us … Or for sure that we could learn from them. It was a great show, a great spectacle for the fans, a bit like DTM fans can get close to the garages in the background, to the drivers.”
While the likes of Juan Pablo Montoya have gone from Formula One to NASCAR, Nigel Mansell was the last Formula One world champion to enjoy success stateside. Mansell won the 1993 Indycar championship just a year after his F1 success, becoming the only man to hold both titles at the same time.
Kimi Raikkonen, who beat Hamilton to the 2007 world championship, competed in a NASCAR World Truck Series and Nationwide Series race during his two-year F1 sabbatical.
