Kevin Magnussen told Motorsport Week how the diversity of Hypercars competing in the sportscar racing scene has established unique identities.
The Dane spoke with Motorsport Week about his love for the sportscar racing scene at the Las Vegas Grand Prix before the news was publicly confirmed last week he’d be joining BMW’s programme.
“In 2021 I had a great time,” he said reminiscing about his sole IMSA SportsCar Championship campaign.
“It’s just kind of having fun. Not that I’m not having fun in Formula 1, but it just feels different.
“It’s very intense [in F1]. It was nice in 2021 to sort of go back to basics in a way and just go racing for the fun of it.
“That was a bit of an eye-opener. You can definitely go and do that and look forward to just kind of playing around more.”
The Dane is set for an imminent departure from Formula 1 after finishing 16th in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, having made his comeback in 2022 after a brief stint in sportscar racing.
He teamed up with Renger van der Zande in the #01 Cadillac DPi-V.R entrant for 10 races and returned five podiums including one victory in 2021.
Also midway through 2021, he took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a co-driver with his father Jan Magnussen, who is a four-time Le Mans class winner and former F1 driver.
Along with co-driver Anders Fjordbach, the High Class Racing LMP2 team suffered reliability issues which hampered their progress for a strong outcome.
Magnussen’s only single-seater outing during a year of IMSA racing was for the Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team at Road America, before his return to F1.
In the three years since Magnussen left the sportscar racing scene, the Hypercar class has welcomed multiple manufacturers to join Toyota.
The Japanese marque campaigns alongside Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac, Alpine, Peugeot and Magnussen’s new employer BMW in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Moreover, Aston Martin is joining the FIA WEC in 2025 with its V12 Valkyrie and Magnussen told Motorsport Week how much he enjoys seeing all the marques competing.
“I think it’s cool because you’re sort of seeing an era in sportscars where each car has a clear identity and as a car enthusiast or racing car enthusiast, it’s cool to see those race cars and they’re quite equal,” he said.
“I think they will become even more equal. There are some fantastic manufacturers, there are some amazing brands fighting against each other.
“I think that’s pretty sexy.”
Magnussen has been officially confirmed as a driver in BMW’s LMDh programme and explained to select media including Motorsport Week in Abu Dhabi why he chose sportscars over IndyCar.
“I’ve talked to teams in IndyCar,” he explained. “I think after this many years in Formula 1, I think IndyCar is hugely attractive from a driver’s perspective.
“The competition over there is fantastic, the tracks, the cars, everything about it is so cool.
“But I think moving to the US with my family, it just wasn’t practical.
“So, it’s good to be racing next year, you know, happy to be going back to sportscar racing.
“You know, it kind of feels like where I grew up, my dad having been in sportscar racing pretty much as long as I can remember. I’ve been around the tracks and around the big races there. In some way, it kind of feels like going home.
“[I’m] still talking to Ayao [Komatsu – team principal at Haas F1] about potentially doing something with the team next year.
“I don’t think I’m gonna go to that many races, if any. Gonna be busy with BMW and other things.”
How talks with BMW began for Kevin Magnussen
Though BMW has yet to outline his specific racing commitments, Magnussen said his work will begin at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January 2025.
“Daytona will be the first race and then BMW will announce the rest of the programme,” the Dane revealed.
“I have been talking to Vincent Vosse who’s the team owner at WRT, which is the team that runs the BMW WEC team.
“I’ve known him since I was a little kid. He once saved my life when I was two years old in the swimming pool at his house, because I jumped in the pool, I couldn’t swim.
“So he was in a suit, dressed up for some gala thing that he was going to and he jumped in the pool so it ruined his day. But hopefully I can make up for that now.
“So the contact has kind of always been there. I’ve known him always.”
Returning to a more competitive environment
The current set of LMH and LMDh cars competing in the FIA WEC and IMSA has seen more competition than ever for coveted race victories.
The WEC accomplished six different overall winners in the 2024 season for the first time in its 12-year running.
Over the past three WEC seasons, the Hypercar field has significantly increased so that there were 18 participants in 2024 – and 23 at Le Mans.
The Dane will relish a paddock with a diversity of engine displacements, aerodynamic profiles and even colours adorned on the liveries in this special Hypercar era.
Magnussen is set to drive with the WRT BMW squad in the WEC next year, which is one of 10 current manufacturers across the IMSA (GTP class) and WEC (Hypercar class) series.
At the Battle of the Bricks, BMW earned their first race victory for the M Hybrid V8 with a 1-2 finish, followed a week later with their maiden WEC podium.
Without little doubt, Magnussen will have a promising challenge on his return albeit with a much more competitive scene awaiting him.
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