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Formula 1’s Fernando Alonso, NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson to swap seats

By Asher Fair

BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - APRIL 06: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) McLaren F1 Team MCL33 Renault on track during practice for the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit on April 6, 2018 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - APRIL 06: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) McLaren F1 Team MCL33 Renault on track during practice for the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit on April 6, 2018 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) /
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Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson are set to swap seats later this month.

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso, who currently drives for McLaren in Formula 1 and is set to retire at the end of the 2018 season, and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who has driven for Hendrick Motorsports ever since his NASCAR Cup Series career began in the 2001 season, are set to swap seats later this month.

The two racing veterans have been teasing the racing community on social media for several months now, and now the public knows what, exactly, is going on.

Here are two videos that both Alonso and Johnson posted in mid-September to tease the racing community.

https://twitter.com/JimmieJohnson/status/1039876291728564224

https://twitter.com/alo_oficial/status/1039879831058448384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1039879831058448384&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbeyondtheflag.com%2F2018%2F10%2F20%2Fnascar-fernando-alonso-competing-2019-daytona-500-not-far-fetched%2F

On Friday, the two drivers both posted another video, with this one revealing their plans.

That’s right. Alonso and Johnson are set to swap seats on Monday, November 26, the day after the Formula 1 season comes to a close and one week and one day after the NASCAR Cup Series season comes to a close.

The two drivers who have combined to win nine championships in Formula 1 and the NASCAR Cup Series are set to swap seats at Bahrain International Circuit, which currently hosts the second race on the Formula 1 calendar, the Bahrain Grand Prix.

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The 15-turn, 5.412-kilometer (3.363-mile) road course in Sakhir, Bahrain began hosting the Bahrain Grand Prix in the 2004 season, and the 2011 season is the only season since then during which it did not do so.

Alonso is a three-time winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix, as he won it in the 2005 season en route to winning his first Formula 1 championship as well as in the 2006 season en route to winning his second Formula 1 championship. He drove for Renault in both of these seasons. He also won it in the 2010 season driving for Scuderia Ferrari.

Johnson driving Alonso’s Renault-powered McLaren and Alonso driving Johnson’s #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is set to mark the first seat swap among a Formula 1 driver and a NASCAR driver since Formula 1’s Lewis Hamilton and NASCAR’s Tony Stewart swapped seats at Watkins Glen International back in 2011.

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Formula 1’s Juan Pablo Montoya, who eventually became a NASCAR driver, and NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon also swapped seats at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course back in 2003.

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