Kevin Magnussen ‘set to race in IMSA SportsCar Championship in America in 2021’ after being released by Haas… ending a seven-year stint in Formula 1
- Next month’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be Kevin Magnussen’s last for Haas
- The team announced in October that he and Romain Grosjean will leave them
- Magnussen has been exploring his options with a lack of available seats in F1
- He had shown heavy interest in moving to American single-seater series Indycar
- But Magnusson is now expected to race in the IMSA SportsCar Championship
Kevin Magnussen’s seven-year stint in Formula One is set to come to an end as he is expected to switch to sportscar racing in 2021.
The Dane will race for Haas for the final time at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next month, after the team opted not to keep him or team-mate Romain Grosjean on for next year.
It comes after a highly disappointing season for the 28-year-old who has only scored one point in Haas’ worst season since they entered F1 in 2016.
Kevin Magnussen has three races left at Haas before he leaves at the end of the 2020 season
The Dane has endured a torrid season with the struggling team scoring just one point so far
The news likely put an end to his F1 career with limited seats available to fill in 2021.
Motorsport.com have now reported that Magnussen will drive for Chip Ganassi Racing’s revived IMSA SportsCar Championship team next year.
It comes after Magnussen approached the outfit as he expressed interest in joining their Indycar team.
The Dane in fact approached a number of teams on the Indycar grid, however most of the owners were seeking drivers who could bring in sponsorship which Magnussen could not.
However his talks with Chip Ganassi Racing led to discussions with him regarding a drive in their WeatherTech Sportscar Championship team, which reportedly led to him securing the drive.
The team announced they were to return to the championship after they missed out on the 2020 season following the conclusion of its highly successful Ford GT program.
Magnussen will drive alongside Scott Dixon (left) for Chip Ganassi’s (right) racing team
Ganassi’s six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon is set to join Magnussen and Renger van der Zande for IMSA’s four endurance rounds – the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, Sebring 12 Hours, Watkins Glen 6 Hours and Petit Le Mans.
The news would spell the end of his Formula One career which started so brightly with a career-best second-place finish for McLaren at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.
He would finish in the points 11 more times that season but was demoted to reserve driver in 2015 when he was replaced by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso who joined from Ferrari.
Magnussen finished on the podium in his debut in 2014 but struggled to match that success
Magnussen then spent 2016 at a struggling Renault team only scoring seven points before moving to Haas in 2017.
His best season at the American outfit came in 2018 where he scored 56 points on his way to finishing ninth in the championship.
However the past two seasons have been a struggle for the Haas team who decided to part ways with Magnussen and Grosjean for financial reasons.
The team have not yet announced who will drive for them in 2021, but Mick Schumacher, son of legendary seven-time world champion Michael, and fellow Formula Two racer Nikita Mazepin are expected to fill the seats.
Source link
