Revealed: Five former IndyCar drivers we would have loved see race in F1

Motorsport fans have been lucky enough to see great drivers like Nigel Mansell, Jim Clark, and Fernando Alonso compete in both Formula 1 and IndyCar — but not every great driver has competed in both.

Today, we’re thumbing through the history books to share the five IndyCar drivers we would have loved to see compete in Formula 1 back in their day.

A. J. Foyt

It you look at a list of F1 drivers, you’ll technically see A. J. Foyt’s name on it — but only because he competed in the Indianapolis 500 when it was considered part of the Formula 1 Championship. He never competed in any other Grand Prix, and that’s what I’m counting here.

Foyt is known for his brash, bold personality, and he’s secured victory at countless races like the Indy 500, the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and more.

Foyt certainly would have performed well in a Formula 1 machine, but his mere presence in a more buttoned-up paddock would have provided countless stories for the ages.

Rick Mears

To say that Rick Mears is quick around an oval track would be an understatement; he holds the record for the most pole positions at the Indianapolis 500 (six) and is one of only four men to have won that race four times.

We actually got close to a Mears F1 debut; the American racer was offered two tests in a Brabham Bt49, where he set lap times faster than then-driver Nelson Piquet. Piquet even suggested Bernie Ecclestone hire Mears to the F1 outfit — but Mears declined. He felt like he could have competed well in F1, but he wasn’t ready to move to Europe, and he wasn’t done competing on ovals.

His decision to stick it out in American open-wheel racing made him a legend, but it would have been incredible to have seen what Mears could have done in Europe.

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Al Unser, Sr.

The iconic Unser family has produced countless talents, but Al Unser Sr. was certainly one of them. His only F1-adjacent outing came at the 1971 Questor Grand Prix, where American F5000 cars competed against European F1 machines. However, his talent in all forms of American open-wheel racing was without doubt; along with Mears, Al Unser Sr. is just one of four men to have won the Indy 500 four times.

Dario Franchitti

Scotland’s Dario Franchitti only got as close to Formula 1 as a test behind the wheel of a McLaren MP4/10B in 1995. He instead showed off his ample skillset in American open-wheel racing, where he won four championships and three Indy 500s.

Yes, Franchitti was skilled on ovals, but he also had a massive amount of talent on road courses and certainly would have made an impression in the Formula 1 world if he’d been given a chance to test out his skillset there. Even though he’s retired, Franchitti now remains an integral part of the IndyCar series, offering guidance to young drivers racing for Chip Ganassi.

Louis Meyer

Alright, well — Louis Meyer never would have technically been able to race in Formula 1, since his four-wheeled career primarily took place between World Wars I and II. However, I still wish we’d have been able to see Louis Meyer competing in Grand Prix racing — the prototype for Formula 1 — back when he was in his prime.

In his very first Indy 500 back in 1928, Louis Meyer took victory after starting 13th on the grid. He was the first driver to score three wins at the hallowed track, and he also invented the tradition of drinking milk in victory circle.

He took multiple AAA National Championships; even though racing was primarily conducted on ovals in the U.S. at the time, it would have been incredible to have been able to see what he could do on, say, a Nürburgring or a Spa-Francorchamps.

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