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Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso swapped roles at the Bahrain International Circuit this week.
Just 24 hours earlier, Alonso took the wheel of the McLaren 570S car, with Johnson for once in the passenger seat, as they completed a few laps around Yas Marina circuit in neighbouring Abu Dhabi.
“Fernando was very, very upset he couldn’t turn off the (stability) assistance from the car and the traction control,” Johnson joked afterwards at the McLaren motorhome. “So we spent two laps trying to figure out how to push the buttons to turn that off. As soon as we got that off, we spun out.”
On Monday, they swapped race cars in Bahrain for an event they had been teasing about on their social media accounts in recent weeks. The 43-year-old Johnson arrived in the Gulf region from the McLaren headquarters in Woking, England, where he got a seat fitting and time in the McLaren simulator.
After the last race of Alonso’s long F1 career on Sunday, he tried his hand at what Johnson does so well. A Hendrick Motorsports stock car was shipped last month to Bahrain in a container that included tyres and equipment for Monday’s full day run. Hendrick Motorsports also provided a crew to work with Alonso when he drove the Chevrolet.
The race swap idea was formed during a chance January meeting at the US Charlotte Convention Centre.
