Haas F1 Team driver Kevin Magnussen has stated that he would love to drive in the Verizon IndyCar Series after he has finished racing in Formula One. The Dane stated that whilst he would not make a one-off appearance like Fernando Alonso did at the Indianapolis 500 last year, he does wish to race full-time in the series someday.
Magnussen was asked in an interview with Crash.net about the possibility of racing in IndyCar in the future. Magnussen went on to say that the idea was something that he had dreamt about but would only pursue after his term in Formula One.
“I would love to do it. I would never put aside Formula 1 to do it, but I would love to do it,” Kevin said in the interview, “It’s one of those things that I dream about at night sometimes. It’s just something that really turns me on.”
Magnussen went on to say that he would not follow in the footsteps of fellow competitor Fernando Alonso, who famously missed the Monaco Grand Prix last year so that he could race in the Indianapolis 500. Kevin said that if he were going to make an appearance in IndyCar, it wouldn’t be a one-off at Indy, but a full-time ride so that he can focus entirely on the one series.
“I wouldn’t do it at the same time as Formula 1. I wouldn’t like to do that,” Magnussen continued, “It would require full focus, and I’d like to do more than just the Indy 500. I’d like to do a full season of IndyCar if I was going to do it I think. But whether I’ll get a chance to do that, I don’t know.
“If I race here for 15 years, then would you really want to go and do that after? Maybe. Maybe not.”
Credit: Jerry Andre / Courtesy of Haas F1 Team
Kevin went on to tell Crash.net about how he almost competed in IndyCar back in 2015. After being dropped by McLaren after his rookie season, Magnussen was left without a race seat in Formula One. He then began to search for a seat for the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series.
Magnussen even journeyed to Indianapolis to visit Andretti Autosports, but eventually, Magnussen’s potential seat with the team was lost when McLaren called him up to fill in for the injured Fernando Alonso at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix. This ended Kevin’s talks with Andretti and he settled for a reserve driver role with McLaren.
“I went to Andretti in Indianapolis, I had talks with them, and I nearly had a go. It was very, very close,” Magnussen said, “But things didn’t turn out as I wanted with McLaren. I didn’t really have the support that I needed from them at the time. They supported me very well before that, but in that moment, they didn’t do a great job, I have to admit.
“So I ended up not driving at all and having a season completely out of driving, which was a catastrophe for me, and it would be for any racing driver. So it didn’t happen.”
Magnussen is entering his fourth full-time season in Formula One and his second season with American team Haas F1. The best result of his career so far is the sensational second place that he scored on debut in 2014. He’ll be hoping to get back to the podium this year with Haas if at all possible.
The 2018 Formula One season begins on Sunday, March 25 with the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne.
