"There will be common points": Jimmie Johnson sees parallels between his and Max Verstappen's rapid rise and dominance

Jimmie Johnson recently shared his thoughts on Max Verstappen and whether the 4-time Cup champion will continue to excel. The 7-time NASCAR Cup champion also addressed whether Verstappen has had a similar career trajectory as him.

During a recent conversation on the High Performance podcast, Johnson was asked whether he sees a bit of Max Verstappen in his story. The co-host clarified his question by mentioning how Verstappen came into F1 at a young age, tasted a lot of success, and began to dominate the sport 'really quickly.'

Speaking about the Red Bull driver's career, Jimmie Johnson said of his present while also speculating on his future:

"I definitely think there there will be common points through it especially if he keeps going and it's seven or eight you know we'll see where the future takes him and what decisions he makes. I mean he's made it public that winning seven or eight isn't necessarily as high as priority which would suggest he would maybe move on to something else before that." [31:05 onwards]

It's worth mentioning that Jimmie Johnson made his full-time debut in the Cup Series in 2002. In his first season, he won thrice, and within a few years, he was a Cup champion. In fact, Johnson won five Cup titles in a row between 2006 and 2010. Max Verstappen recently won his fourth F1 title in a row.

Jimmie Johnson had the experience of a lifetime driving a McLaren F1 car in Bahrain

Jimmie Johnson during the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. - Source: Imagn

In 2018, Jimmie Johnson and Fernando Alonso swapped their respective racecars, a NASCAR stock car, and an F1 single-seater in a collaboration with McLaren in Bahrain. This was an experience that the former Hendrick Motorsports driver deemed quite unique. In fact, he even went on to say that he won't stop smiling 'for months.'

"The most epic experience I've ever had in motorsports in my life. It was almost like when you're young and you had that Christmas morning excitement, running out to the Christmas tree when you were five or six years old. It was above that," he claimed.

Further describing his experience, Jimmie Johnson recalled how, when he was coming down the front straightaway, just as soon as he grabbed the fifth gear his helmet 'lifted up so far' that he could see his microphone. Because of the extreme aero conditions, Johnson was forced to come into the pits for his team to work on ways so his helmet would stay in its place instead of lifting up.

The 7x Cup champion revealed that there was 'so much air' blowing over the top of the McLaren F1 car, that it was 'literally trying' to put his helmet on.

It's worth mentioning that in a 2021 interview with Graham Bensinger, Johnson revealed that his goal post-NASCAR retirement was to drive in F1 instead of IndyCar.