ESPN College GameDay to feature Nick Saban riding 'hot lap' at Austin's F1 Circuit of the Americas

Nick Saban is quite familiar with expensive, fast cars, owning a few and likely seeing dozens shuttle through the pair of Florida-based Mercedes Benz dealerships he co-owns. But nothing will match the automotive experience Saban is set to get this weekend.

With the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix taking place in Austin the Sunday after Texas hosts Georgia in football — where Saban will be for ESPN’s College GameDay — a collaboration for the ages has been born.

Saban will, as part of the GameDay broadcast, do a hot lap or two around the Circuit of the Americas in “Mercedes’ F1 vehicle,” according to AdWeek.

It’s unclear if Saban will be in a modified version of a Mercedes Formula 1 racer driven by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell — often times previous year models get converted to two-seaters to bring along passengers — or in the Mercedes pace car, a highly modified Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series model.

And in a further F1-football collab, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri will get to meet some Texas players. Previously, F1 drivers have met a number of professional football players when at races in Texas and, more recently, Miami.

Perhaps no driver leaned into the Americana and Texas of it all more than recently-retired Daniel Ricciardo, who once arrived to the pre-race paddock on the back of a horse wearing full cowboy getup. He’s also shown up to the pre-race in a Texas football jersey.

Now college football will somewhat return the favor, sending Saban out for a zip around the track in a Mercedes. And pace car or otherwise, Saban’s in for a sure thrill.

Georgia and Texas kickoff at 7:30 p.m. EST on Saturday night. The lights go out on the United States Grand Prix almost 24 hours later, with the 20 cars set to scream off the line at 3 p.m. EST on Sunday afternoon, in what should be a sports-packed weekend in a state that loves to brag about doing things bigger.