‘No way’ verdict issued against Max Verstappen with Kyle Larson ‘damn close’ prediction

NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick has predicted Kyle Larson would be “damn close” to Max Verstappen in an F1 car within two days of testing, while there is “no way” the Red Bull driver could match Larson’s talent in a stock car.

Multi-format driver Larson recently claimed “I know in my mind I am better than him as an all-around driver” than the three-time F1 World Champion, while a clip from Verstappen weighing in on such a debate from earlier this year took a more measured tone.

‘No way’ Max Verstappen would match Kyle Larson in a stock car – NASCAR legend

2014 NASCAR Cup champion Harvick, who competed at the top level of stock car racing for 23 years, raced against Larson for the best part of a decade.

And with Larson impressing on his debut Indianapolis 500 with Arrow McLaren this year, alongside his myriad motorsport efforts in the past, teh 32-year-old claimed he is a better all-rounder than the Formula 1 World Champion.

Speaking to motorsport streamer Ash Vandelay earlier this year about the ‘best driver’ debate, Verstappen would not be drawn on a similar comparison however, saying: “I have a lot of respect for other drivers and I do a lot of different kinds of racing.

“Honestly, I think I should say we should not have that debate [about the best driver] because everyone is good in their own right. I wouldn’t be good in dirt, maybe if I would practice – I don’t know.

“I think it’s very cool to watch people race a lot of different things and be good at it.”

With Larson having raced in trucks, stock cars, now in IndyCar, as well as being a previous winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona in sports cars,

“The thing I can tell you is that if Kyle Larson went to drive Max Verstappen’s car, in one or two days, he’d be damn close to being as fast as Max Verstappen, but there is no way Max Verstappen comes over here and does that in a stock car,” Harvick said on his own Happy Harvick podcast.

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“Max is extremely talented and very, very, very good at what he does for his discipline, and I heard him talk about drivers being specialised in their discipline, but that is not Kyle Larson.

“Kyle Larson can go out and drive anything, he is very good at his discipline, but he has got multiple disciplines, and we saw what he did in an IndyCar.

“I truly believe that Max would do okay, but he’s not going to do anything close to what Kyle Larson does.”

To put that to the test, Harvick would like to speak to McLaren CEO Zak Brown about the possibility of arranging an F1 test for Larson – with Brown having been unafraid to set up running for drivers from other disciplines in the past.

As an equaliser too, he would hope to see more drivers take part in the 24 Hours of Daytona as a true test of endurance and speed, with the likes of Fernando Alonso, Lando Norris and Kevin Magnussen on the current Formula 1 grid having done so in the past.

“I wish we could get Zak Brown on the show because I have some pressing questions about how we can get Kyle Larson into an F1 car, get on him the race-track testing and in the simulator, and we could get him up to speed in a couple of weeks,” Harvick said.

“I wish that our guys would be more versatile, I wish the F1 guys would be more versatile.

“Let’s go do the 24 Hours of Daytona like they used to, have all these guys show up, and we make this a truly international event so that we can start having more of this discussion.

“I would love to see Max Verstappen show up and drive the 24 Hours of Daytona. I’d love to see Kyle Larson do it more.

“I’d love our guys, like Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell to go run the 24 Hours of Daytona – that’s truly the place that they all used to do it. They all used to come to the 24 Hours of Daytona and race, and we need for this conversation to be more relevant.

“We need those guys to race, and that is the place to do it.”

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