Formula One’s Lewis Hamilton and NASCAR’s Tony Stewart met at the legendary Watkins Glen International circuit to swap cars courtesy of Mobil 1.
In front of an enthusiastic crowd, Hamilton drove Stewart’s No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala, while Stewart climbed into the cockpit of the team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23.
“Being in a stock car, I was a little nervous pulling away,” Hamilton commented. “I thought I was in the wrong gear or
something because it sounded like the rpm was dropping a little bit. I just gave it some power.
“I was really, really surprised. I was thinking this could be rolling quite a lot. I didn’t know how stiff it was going to be. I tell you what, it handles really well.
“It’s absolutely fantastic. The shifting and the engine, the way it’s pulling through the rpm was fantastic.
“It’s not the same [as an F1 car]. They’re completely different. But the driving skills that you learn, the braking into corners, throttle shifting, that’s all very, very similar. That’s why I think it was easier to pick it up quicker than perhaps I would. I think it’s the same for Tony. He went straight out there and picked it up. It was no problem for him.”
<"I couldn't even get it high enough in the revs to get it to pull away in first gear!" Stewart said. "It goes into a default stall mode. I was trying to tell myself, just get on the gas a bit.
"Once we got rolling, it was unbelievable. The good thing is you have somebody like Lewis that can sit there and guide you through it.
"As silly as it's going to sound, I ran a couple of hours yesterday in an iRacing simulator - it gave me such a good base to have an idea where the shift points were going to be, seven-speed transmission versus the four-speed that we have in the Cup car.
"With the simulator and Lewis' input it made if easy to feel like you could relatively get up to speed quick.
"It was fun - that is truly an experience of a lifetime!"
