In our latest interview, we caught up with ex Formula One driver, Kevin Magnussen as he reflects on his career so far and looks ahead to driving for Peugeot in World Endurance Championship.
As the son of former F1 driver – Jan Magnussen, Kevin has enjoyed a successful career in which he rose up the junior motorsport ranks and spent seven seasons in F1 before making the switch to sportscar racing with Chip Ganassi in America.
Here, Kevin spoke candidly about his motorsport inspiration, his rise through the junior ranks and seven seasons with three different teams in F1, as well as his move stateside and future plans for WEC and Le Mans.
Having grown up in the world of motorsport through your father – Jan, who was your biggest inspiration for becoming a racing driver?
Magnussen: “My biggest inspiration growing up was my father. I remember going to races with him and getting super excited about the cars and the noise and the whole atmosphere.
“If it wasn’t for him, I’m not sure I would have got into motorsport. He was the reason I got “exposed” to motorsport and fell in love with the sport.”
Having graduated throughout the world of karting, 2008 saw you switch to single-seater racing and win the Danish Formula Ford (DFF) as a rookie. What was it like to make that switch from karting to single-seater and instantly win DFF title in your rookie season?
Magnussen: I went to Formula Ford quite early because we kind of ran out of money to do karting. I never did senior level karting.
“So we got an opportunity to run in Danish Formula Ford for quite a small budget, and at the end of that season, I got an investor who would then fund my further career, which was super lucky.
“I actually started working in a factory as a welder during that season before I got the investor, because I thought it would be my last year of racing.”
2009-11 saw you miss out on Formula Renault 2.0 NEC plus German and British F3 titles, whilst participating in various series. From your perspective, what was it like switching and adapting to different series throughout the early part of your career despite often staying with same team?
Magnussen: I never did two years in the same series until World Series by Renault 3.5 {across 2012 & 13 seasons], which wasn’t actually intentional.
I was meant to do two years in Formula Renault 2.0 but the team I had a deal with, pulled out of the series very late in the year and went into German F3, so I decided to come with them into German F3 which was a little early for me perhaps, but I learned a lot, being in F3 with a new team who had no experience with the car we raced.
2012-13 saw you complete in Formula Renault 3.5 where you sealed the title in your latter season ahead of fellow then McLaren junior, Stoffel Vandoorne. How important was that title personally after near misses between 2009-11 and especially against a tough competitor in Vandoorne?
Magnussen: “The 2013 season was an important one. Stoffel and I were both McLaren juniors and were kind of fighting for the same thing both in WSR 3.5 but also internally in McLaren.
“I knew I had to win the championship that year to have any hopes of getting to F1, so it was a very important year, and the championship win got me the chance to get to F1.”
Promotion to McLaren and F1 followed in 2014 where you scored a debut podium in Australia before results sadly fell away across the season, resulting in demotion to reserve in 2015. As a then young driver, what were the biggest lessons that you took from this experience to be demoted to reserve after your rookie F1 season despite making a guest appearance in Australia 2015?
Magnussen: “My year as reserve in 2015 was a very toughening experience. I got reminded of how much I love racing and of how much I need to be racing.
“Some people might be very happy to be an F1 reserve driver, but I really struggled with it and knew I had to come back in a race seat somewhere. Luckily Renault gave me the opportunity to come back and the rest is history.”
Recent seasons saw you endure difficult campaigns with Renault and Haas with exception of 2018, where you enjoyed your best F1 season with ninth overall. Looking back now, how do you reflect on this period of your career and especially the stability at Haas with Romain Grosjean as teammate?
Magnussen: “I really enjoyed my time at Haas. They were an exciting new team who did things differently in F1, in terms of how the team is build. They were and still are a very small organisation and that made it quite rewarding, when we were fighting the big teams.
“Also, having Romain as a teammate was a positive challenge for me, as he is know to be an extremely fast driver, especially in qualifying. So I knew that if I could match or beat him, it would look very good.
“We had our season in 2018 that was extremely rewarding, and in the other years we struggled a little more, but still had a few good races, which was fun. I enjoyed it a lot.”
This year saw you switch to WeatherTech Sportscar Championship with Chip Ganassi. What has it been like adapting to the series after several years in single seater racing and especially with that win in Detroit recently?
Magnussen: “I love racing with Chip Ganassi racing in IMSA. Chip Ganassi Racing is an awesome team of real racers. Motorsport in the US is a lot of fun!
“The tracks are all amazing and they race hard over here. It’s a big challenge to learn new tracks every race weekend, as I have not been to any of the tracks we race at this year, previously. But I love a challenge!”
Finally, what are your plans for the future especially with Chip Ganassi also operating a IndyCar team too?
Magnussen: “I am going to be racing with Peugeot in WEC in the Hypercar, which will be super cool and exciting. The goal is to win Le Mans in the coming years and I can’t wait to start that adventure.
“Later this year I will be racing at Le Mans with my dad as a teammate in LMP2, which is going to be a real highlight in my career so far! We tested in Spain last week, and it went very well. The dream is to be on the podium at Le Mans together!”
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