F1 stars who got behind the wheel of Supercars
Supercars-Formula 1 crossovers are nothing new, but the sight of four-time world champion Max Verstappen in a Gen3 Ford Mustang has taken it to a new level.
Verstappen lapped the car, now based in the United States after wind tunnel testing in late 2023, against rising star Arvid Lindblad amid a series of challenges.
Several F1 racers have stepped into Supercars machinery before, yet few are as credentialed as Verstappen, who is behind only Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher on the all-time F1 wins list.
It had us thinking: how many F1 stars have experienced Supercars machinery? On first glance, the list is growing, and given what we've seen in Melbourne in the past, it may continue to grow...
Max Verstappen
After sitting in a Triple Eight Holden in 2017 and going for a hot lap with Jamie Whincup in 2019, Verstappen finally got his chance at the Ford Racing shoot, steering a Red Bull Ampol-liveried Gen3 Ford Mustang. On the Supercar drive, Verstappen beamed: "I had a lot of fun... I was just smiling."
Liam Lawson
The Kiwi has twice driven Supercar machinery: he steered a Blanchard Racing Team Gen3 Ford with hero James Courtney by his side at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, before lapping a former Shane van Gisbergen Gen3 Camaro at Highlands last year. Lindblad also drove the van Gisbergen car at the start of the year before winning the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Jack Doohan
Ahead of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, the then-Alpine trio took to Calder Park with Thomas Randle's Gen3 Mustang as part of a Castrol challenge. Gasly, Ocon and Doohan all drove a Supercar for the first time during the event. After his laps, Gasly said: "Bathurst is definitely on my bucket list, I definitely want to participate one day there."
Valtteri Bottas
A noted Supercars fan and adopted Aussie, the 10-time Grand Prix winner (and 2019 Australian Grand Prix winner) got behind the wheel of the 2016 Bathurst-winning Holden ZB Commodore at the 2023 Adelaide Motorsport Festival. With Craig Lowndes behind him, Bottas tipped the Holden into a series of engine-killing burnouts, just to ram home his affinity with Australia.
Sergio Perez
At the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, the star Mexican driver put the pedal to the metal in a Broc Feeney-liveried spare ZB Commodore. Perez was rough on the gears, but brought the car home in one piece with no passenger around the fearsome street circuit.
Fernando Alonso
The two-time world champion has steered many different cars throughout the years, and has twice driven a Supercar. Courtesy of sponsor Castrol, Alonso drove Thomas Randle's Gen2 Ford at the 2022 Grand Prix. The Spaniard was pushing so hard, that he speared off at Turn 1, all with Randle in the passenger seat! He also drove a Holden Racing Team VE Commodore owned by Zak Brown in the United States.
Daniel Ricciardo
The Aussie fan favourite and eight-time Grand Prix winner has twice driven a Supercar. Ricciardo took Triple Eight's 'Sandman' Commodore around Sandown in 2016, with Jamie Whincup watching on. In 2019, he took 2006 Supercars champion Rick Kelly for a wild ride around Calder Park in Kelly's own Nissan Supercar.
Jenson Button
The 2009 world champion steered a Triple Eight Supercar around Mount Panorama as part of a Vodafone tie-up in 2011. On the same day, Button set an unofficial Bathurst lap record aboard a McLaren F1 car. A year earlier, Button had a taste of Jamie Whincup’s VE Commodore at Albert Park in 2010. He went on to win the Grand Prix on the Sunday, with Whincup also steering a McLaren F1 car.
Other notable cameos
Australia's first world champion, Sir Jack Brabham, raced a Holden Torana in the 1976 Bathurst 1000. For the record, Sir Stirling Moss was Brabham's co-driver, but Brabham infamously failed to get off the grid and was hit from behind. Brabham returned to Mount Panorama in 1978 and finished sixth.
1980 world champion Alan Jones shifted to touring cars after F1, winning five Australian Touring Car Championship races and finishing on the Bathurst podium twice in 1988 and 1995.
Kiwi Denny Hulme, who won the world title in 1967, made eight Bathurst 1000 starts between 1982 and 1992. He sadly passed away from a heart attack while driving in the 1992 race.
The international Gold Coast 600 event encouraged a number of former F1 drivers to turn their hands to Supercars. Sebastien Bourdais won with Jamie Whincup in 2011 and 2012, with former Ferrari ace Mika Salo winning with Will Davison for Ford Performance Racing in 2012.
In 2010, 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve finished fifth on the Gold Coast with Paul Dumbrell. Later, he infamously deputised for an injured Greg Murphy with Kelly Racing in 2012.
David Brabham, Nick Heidfeld, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Tiago Monteiro, Gianni Morbidelli, Emanuele Pirro, Christian Klien, Jan Magnussen, the late Justin Wilson and Lucas Di Grassi all raced at Surfers Paradise between 2010 and 2012.
Several more F1 aces have turned laps in Supercars, either in a championship or exhibition sense.
Multiple-time Grand Prix winner Gerhard Berger also steered a Bob Jane BMW 635 CSi in 1985 at Adelaide. In an exhibition race, Berger qualified on the front row alongside eventual winner Dick Johnson, but was taken out by John Harvey. Berger also became the first and only driver to complete double duties with an F1 drive, racing an Arrows-BMW to sixth in the first world championship Australian Grand Prix.
The 2026 Supercars season commences in Sydney on February 20-22. Tickets are on sale now. International viewers can watch on SuperView.
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