For the second time, Kevin Magnussen’s post-Formula 1 career begins in IMSA this weekend, and his top-level BMW M Hybrid V8 sportscar is on pole.
Magnussen was replaced for 2021 as Haas went to a Nikita Mazepin/Mick Schumacher line-up, and the Dane found solace in a Chip Ganassi-run IMSA programme - where he came within a puncture of winning IMSA’s traditional curtain-raiser, the Daytona 24 Hours.
But after that IMSA campaign and an outing as an injury stand-in for his old team McLaren in IndyCar, in 2023 he was back in F1 with Haas again - before being replaced by Ollie Bearman and Estaban Ocon in the 2025 roster.
Magnussen reckons F1 is a “chapter closed to me now”, despite the deja vu of the situation he is in, and it’s clear he is excited by this new prospect.
He even couldn’t resist - indirectly and without wanting to come across as critical - some pointed comparisons between his F1 past and his new gig.
“I'm very much looking forward to going into something that I feel is real racing, if you want - not to take anything away from Formula 1, but for me, it's kind of been- there are Formula 1 drivers and then there are racing drivers. And I've always felt like a racing driver - also a Formula 1 driver, but very much a racing driver," he said.
When asked about needing to get his elbows out - even the practices and qualifying for this event have felt a bit dicey and like the last few laps of the 24-hour race - Magnussen expanded on the attitude change required when swapping from F1 to sportscars.
“Where I came from [F1], only 10 first cars get points.
"Here, it's a long race. You need to keep the car clean. Of course, if you're fighting for the win at the very end, you go for it. That's clear. But it is a very different situation with BMW.
“I’m going to be much, much more competitive, I think, towards the front of the field, than I've been in Formula 1. And so, it's a very different risk-and-reward situation.”
He’s had to switch focus quickly, given the constrained timeframe involved.
The increasing popularity of IMSA, boosted by its five manufacturers competing at the top level, has made every aspect of preparation crucial. There may have been a time where a driver of the calibre of Magnussen could come in as a ringer and be a class above, but not in this generation.
The added electrification of the current-spec hybrid cars means there are systems and intricacies to these cars that take time to learn and manipulate to reach the highest level.
Magnussen's team-mate Dries Vanthoor was the driver trusted to qualify the car, while Magnussen himself has had very little time to prepare for his new digs.
“It's a big challenge, because one of the biggest races is the first one [in IMSA],” Magnussen said.
“I’ve come straight off from one season that finishes very late in the year. So actually, I've not had that much progression.
“I had a test in Qatar with the WEC car, but basically the same, a simulator day and then just communicating with all the engineers trying to memorise everything and get into all the wording of all the different systems.
“It's a lot of studying. I'm trying to remember it all.
“The more laps you get the more second nature it just becomes and so it's a pretty big step to go straight into the Daytona 24, but it's also very exciting and a big challenge, and something that I'm very proud. And Dries put it on pole, so I couldn't be happier.”
Sensibly, Magnussen also adds that “endurance racing is much more than pole”, but it is literally the best place for him and his team to kick things off from.
Ultimately, the nature of sharing a car with three other top drivers - Vanthoor, Philipp Eng and Raffaele Marciello - dulls the pressure on Magnussen. But he has been brilliant in this event before, so it's hard not to get a bit excited about his prospects.
