Words spoken on a dirt track in the middle of Iowa somehow resonate in all the engines of the world.After winning the Knoxville Nationals – the biggest sprint car race in the world – for the third time in four years, sweet manners. NASCAR star Kyle Larson made a surprising statement.
“I know in my mind that I’m better than him as an all-around driver,” Larson said of three-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen, according to FloSports. “There’s no way he’s going to get in a sprint car and win the Knoxville Nationals.
There’s no way he’s going to win the Chili Bowl. There’s no way he’s going to win a Cup race at Bristol .”… That’s what gives me ease and confidence, knowing that I’m better than him. Maybe not in an IndyCar single seater or a Formula 1 car, but it is a discipline. I think I can beat him to anything else. You can quote him. Many American racing fans read Larson’s comments and thought he was right. But it was laughed off in Europe.
Verstappen, meanwhile, was asked about the comments by Luke Smith of The Athletic on Thursday. “That’s good,” he said. “Everybody thinks their own way, right?”So where does the truth lie?
The Athletic’s F1 reporters Smith and Madeline Coleman, with NASCAR reporter Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi, had fun debating this sort of thing during a panel discussion ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix and the Coke Zero Sugar 400. First of all, who do you think does the best “all-rounder”? Is it pure talent? Skill? Anyone else?
Smith: It’s a mix of talent, skill and sheer speed. The ability to adapt to different cars is something that I believe sets the drivers apart, breaking them out of the “bubble” of a single series or type of race. It’s a dying art, especially compared to the 1950s or 1960s, when F1 drivers regularly competed in the Indianapolis 500 or the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but I believe it still has considerable relevance in the world of motorsport. . Coleman. . : While he was in Monaco earlier this year, Jenson Button and I discussed driving in different racing disciplines and he said: “I don’t think you can consider yourself the best driver in the world if you haven’t raced. They were competitive” And they are agree. It is about being competitive in a wide range of racing disciplines, which is difficult to do because their competitors are trained for this type of car and this is their life. It requires skill and talent.
Gluck: These days, racing is very specialized. Therefore, the best “all-around” driver should be someone who succeeds in multiple categories. Beyond that, an easy test is to see how quickly this person picks up speed when jumping into another type of car.
