As part of a sponsor promo, the F1 star was given a tour of the RBHRT garage and shown around van Gisbergen’s Commodore during the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

However, according to van Gisbergen’s latest column on the Red Bull website, the three pedal set-up in the Supercar left the young Dutchman stumped.

Van Gisbergen even had to explain the concept of heel-and-toe – the art of matching revs and road speed on downshifts with the throttle – something not necessarily needed in modern paddleshift open-wheelers.

“He told us he was a fan of our sport and watched the races when he could, and he had a sit in my car and played around with it all,” wrote van Gisbergen.

“[He] asked a lot of questions too, wondering if I left-foot braked (and I don't, I'm right-foot). We talked about heel-and-toe, and he didn't even know what that was … he's definitely had a pretty different background, and he's so young still being in his third year of F1 and not even 20 years old.

“There's even younger drivers than him now, so he's started something and people are looking for even younger drivers to find the next top-line guy.

“It was good to show him around.”

SVG calls for longer races at Albert Park

Van Gisbergen believes that pitstops should be incorporated into the Australian Grand Prix Supercars support races, particularly if plans to make them count for championship points come to fruition.

In the same column, the reigning Supercars champ wrote that the current format – with four 13-lap sprint races – can be a bit ‘standard’. Instead the Kiwi would prefer longer races that include stops, particularly if the Australian Grand Prix Corporation gets its wish and the event becomes a full points round for Supercars.

“The sprint races at the GP can be a bit standard and sometimes not a lot happens, so if we were to go championship races there in the future, maybe a race length with pitstops would be better,” he wrote.

“I think we had that five or so years ago at the GP, fewer races but longer ones, and the racing was awesome when you added a strategic element to it.

“So if we go down that path in the future, that'd be the best option.”