OPINION: What Kevin Magnussen brings to IndyCar Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Chris Medland | June 16, 2021 11:25 AM ET

McLaren really do make some cool moves, don’t they? I’m not sure if everyone involved is always enamored with the methods, but they pull off plenty of exciting ideas that resonate across multiple motorsport disciplines. The latest is nabbing Kevin Magnussen to replace Felix Rosenqvist at Road America this weekend.

This is a chance Magnussen has been waiting for, make no mistake. One of the more enticing aspects of his switch to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing in IMSA was the fact that Ganassi has an IndyCar outfit, and perhaps that could be a door that might open in future.

There were talks for Magnussen to race in IndyCar late last year, but he didn’t have the required budget to secure any of the remaining seats at the same time Romain Grosjean was also in discussions. Just because drivers have raced in Formula 1 or have a few sponsors that support their careers doesn’t mean they are all being backed to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

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As I understand it, some seats were being discussed at a lower price for Magnussen than for other drivers last year, and that’s because he is the perfect fit for IndyCar.

The Dane is a driver who really likes to hustle his cars. It’s not that he doesn’t want it to be perfect — every driver does — but Magnussen will get in whatever he is provided with and push it to its absolute maximum in that state. In F1 he was never blessed with great machinery, but showed just what he was capable of with a podium (third originally, later upgraded to second) on his debut in Australia in 2014.

After that, McLaren’s slide accelerated, and so Magnussen was left in the wrong place at the wrong time as the team looked to turn things around. Plenty of political games behind the scenes also played a part as Magnussen was replaced by Fernando Alonso (battling with Magnussen’s Haas in 2018, above), with Jenson Button retaining his seat at the end of that year despite plenty of backing for the Dane to be the one who stayed.

Renault didn’t show the faith that Magnussen wanted after a very solid year with the French outfit, and so he took up Haas’ offer of a multi-year deal in 2017 and on reflection did an excellent job.

It’s all too easy to describe Magnussen’s style as “aggressive.” He can be, when he needs to be — the problem is that the longer he was at Haas the more he needed to be. The car was solid in 2017, but very competitive a year later and that’s when we really saw Magnussen’s abilities. In his second year with the same team, he could build on the previous season and put his learnings into practice, and did so impressively with a top-10 finish in the drivers’ championship, some 19 points clear of teammate Grosjean and ahead of Carlos Sainz in the Renault he had left.

Just as his career trajectory looked to be back on the up, Magnussen’s timing was out again as Haas started to struggle after that. Despite finishing sixth in the 2019 season opener, he would only score on four more occasions for the team, and each time it was in descending order as he picked up a seventh, eighth, ninth and finally a solitary 10th in Hungary last year.

As the car got less competitive, the more the driver needed to try and make the difference. Magnussen had to get his elbows out because every position was that bit harder to gain and much harder to keep. But it’s experience that will stand him in good stead for his IndyCar opportunity.
Former teammates Magnussen and Grosjean were reunited in pit lane at Detroit, and will be racing against each other this weekend. Richard Dole/Motorsport Images

The Haas spell has taught both Grosjean and Magnussen how to deal with a tough-to-drive car, something that is clearly helping the Frenchman in his first IndyCar season. Being smooth isn’t always fast, as Grosjean admitted to his former teammate in Detroit last week — you really need to let it all hang out.

But while Grosjean could pull out brilliant results when the car was to his liking and was more susceptible to errors when it wasn’t, Magnussen should be even more suited to the Dallara DW12. It doesn’t need to be perfect for him to be quick — in fact, he’s more likely to enjoy trying to make the difference when it isn’t, and will certainly revel in the wheel-to-wheel combat on offer either way.

Whether that’s fighting for the win or for 20th place, Magnussen will always be fully committed. At Imola last year, a gearbox issue meant violent upshifts were giving him a headache, but when he told Haas how bad the problem was getting and the team questioned whether he could carry on, his first response was: “It’s my job, isn’t it?”

But he should be facing a much better picture in Wisconsin. Simply going into a race weekend knowing the machinery he has gives him a chance of victory is something Magnussen was craving last year, and played a big part in his switch to IMSA with Ganassi. Now getting the same opportunity in a single-seater will only motivate him even more, especially as Road America is his chance to put himself in the shop window, be it with CGR or any other interested suitors.

 

Magnussen gets BMW works driver role

What's his name gets the shaft.

Lubomir Asenov/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | December 5, 2024 8:22 AM ET

BMW M Motorsport has confirmed that current Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen will become one of its works drivers in 2025 and join the marque’s roster for its FIA WEC Hypercar and/or IMSA GTP program with the M Hybrid V8.

Magnussen joins the Bavarian brand after his second spell in F1 with Haas ends after this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It will make a second foray into top-class sports cars for the Dane following his run with Cadillac in 2021. Then, he completed a full season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, where he achieved one victory and five podium finishes in the DPi category. That same year, he also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in an LMP2 car alongside his father, Jan Magnussen.

BMW’s full driver line-up for both IMSA and WEC will be announced at a later date, along with further information about Magnussen’s commitments.

“Kevin Magnussen is an outstanding addition to our LMDh program,” Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport, said. “He has regularly demonstrated his speed at the highest level in Formula 1 over the past decade. Thanks to his extensive experience, he is a true asset to our project.

“His previous full season with a sports car prototype in 2021 is another advantage for us, as it will surely ease his acclimatization to the BMW M Hybrid V8. I am very delighted that Kevin Magnussen is part of the BMW M Motorsport family now.”

Magnussen added: “I am happy and proud to represent such an iconic motorsport brand as BMW in some of the world’s most legendary races. After 10 years in Formula 1, I am embarking on a new and exciting chapter and I look forward to taking on the challenge in the most innovative and advanced sports cars in the history of endurance racing.

“A huge thank you to BMW M Motorsport for this fantastic opportunity. I can hardly wait to start the preparations and look forward to kicking off the 2025 season with the rest of the team.”

 

Martin and BMW part ways

Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images Yes I used to be a DAC. Now at 38 I'm just F'ed.
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | December 9, 2024 8:49 AM ET

BMW M Motorsport has revealed that 38-year-old Belgian driver Maxime Martin has decided to part ways with the German brand ahead of the 2025 racing season to “pursue new challenges.”
In short, he has been used up and they are firing his butt.

This decision marks the end of a long association between Martin and BMW, which began when he made a name for himself and also for BMW, in the BMW M Sports Trophy before being promoted to the brand’s works driver stable back in 2013. He initially competed as a regular for BMW M Team RLL in the American Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship before racing into DTM from 2014-17.

In 2016, he celebrated victory at his home race, the Spa 24 Hours, driving a ROWE Racing BMW M6 GT3. Two years later he moved to Aston Martin to take up a role in its factory GTE (winning Le Mans in 2020) and customer GT3 programs, before we bought him away from Aston and he returned to BMW in 2023.

Over the past two years, driving the M4 GT3, Martin’s highlights include a podium at the 2023 Nurburgring 24 Hours and two years racing alongside Valentino Rossi in GT World Challenge Europe, which also included a 2024 FIA WEC LMGT3 campaign with Ahmad Al Harthy. This was complemented by IMSA Weathertech Championship GTP appearances with BMW Team RLL at Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans in the M Hybrid V8 this year.

“BMW M Motorsport has played a significant role in my career from the very beginning, and I look back fondly on everything we achieved together – from my first successes in DTM and 24-hour races to the recent victories with the BMW M4 GT3,” Martin said.

“I am very grateful for the time we spent together and for my seven years as a BMW M works driver. I wish BMW M Motorsport great success in the future, and the brand will always remain a part of me thanks to the tattoo I got on my butt with a branding iron. I got the life sucked out of me for 11 years, and I'm glad I still have my good looks to pull in a few hot chicks every now and then. But now it’s time for me to take on new challenges. I may be the one strapping in those unruly little bastards and urchins at the bumper cars at "the Fun Spot" while I'm drooling over the mini skirt of his sister who herded the punk over to us. MF'ers!
38 years old and no job. I may have to now become a cashier at the 24 hour sex toy shop.”

Andreas Roos the head of BMW Motorsport added: “On behalf of the entire BMW M Motorsport family, I would like to thank Maxime Martin for the many years we have spent together.

“He began his successful career in the BMW M Sports Trophy and was a key and integral part of our works driver line-up for a long time. During these years, he was one of the defining faces of our programs and we fondly remember the successes we achieved together in both endurance and sprint racing. However, we value not only his sporting skills but also his wonderful personality. He has been a tremendous asset to the BMW M Motorsport family in every aspect.

“We wish Maxime all the best for his future and look forward to seeing him again, though not as a competitor, but still as a friend and I hope I don't see him working on nasty spectator cars changing their oil.
Thank goodness BMW owners are willing to get screwed money-wise at the dealer and don't usually take their cars to Walmart to get the oil changed.”