Five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon had the potential to be a Formula 1 World Champion, according to his manager Stefan Johansson.
After winning his first IndyCar title in 2003 Dixon secured a Formula 1 test with Williams-BMW in the FW26 and is understood to have set competitive lap times.
However, due to the partnership with BMW, the German manufacturer was able to have a say in the team’s driver line-up and was hesitant to give its backing to a rookie.
Since then Dixon has gone on to achieve substantial success in IndyCar with a further four titles and a victory at the Indianapolis 500, in 2008, to his name.
Dixon also has success in sportscars which includes three overall wins at the 24 hours of Daytona and a podium finish at the Le Mans 24 hours.
“I think he would have been World Champion,” Johansson said in the Beyond The Grid podcast. “I mean, in F1 you have to be in the right car at the right time.
“Timing is so crucial in F1 and there are maybe two or three drivers at most who have the luxury of deciding which team they want to go with at whatever certain time.
“But if all the stars had lined up, he would have no question have been World Champion, I think he is absolutely one of the best in history of any category in my opinion.
“It was just timing, so when he won the championship the first time, we had the test with Williams and it went very well.”
Johansson also revealed there were discussions with then-Ferrari boss Jean Todt over a possible test with Ferrari during the 2004 season.
After talks broke down, Dixon was able to secure a lucrative deal with Chip Ganassi to remain with the team in IndyCar.
“We were due to have a test with Ferrari as well, had some meetings with Jean Todt, they wanted to do the test as well, but at the same time he had won the year with Ganassi, then with Williams, BMW was obviously the main partner and they didn’t want a rookie in the car,” said Johansson.
“So, at the time we managed to leverage that in getting a really, really good deal from Chip for IndyCar, so we kind of ended up in IndyCar and that’s just where the career ended up going.”
Dixon is currently top of the the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series after winning the opening race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Round two of the championship will take place on the Indianapolis road course for the GMR Grand Prix on July 4.
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