Kevin Magnussen given McLaren test chance
2012 F1 season
Magnussen won seven times in British F3 last year
Kevin Magnussen, son of former F1 driver Jan Magnussen, will have the chance to driver for McLaren in the young drivers’ test later this year.
Magnussen has progressed within the team’s Young Driver Programme and will get to drive the team’s simulator and contribute to its development programme for the MP4-27.
Magnussen said: “I’m really pleased by this new agreement with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. The team has shown great faith in me so far and I feel that this is an important step in my career. F1 is a highly pressured, data-driven environment, and anyone who wants to get there and succeed within it has to master all the technical aspects of the discipline.
“This is a great opportunity and I look forward to working with the team and playing a part in Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ future.”
Magnussen’s father made his F1 debut for McLaren in 1995, substituting for Mika Hakkinen at the Pacific Grand Prix. He later spent one-and-a-half seasons with Stewart.
Kevin Magnussen was the runner-up in the British Formula Three championship last year. This year he will race in Formula Renault 3.5 for Carlin.
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Image © British F3
PJ (@pjtierney) said on 14th February 2012, 15:48
When I think of Jan I think of this epic battle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0LHqNAiWPk
BasCB (@bascb) said on 14th February 2012, 19:36
That really was something of a battle, wasn’t it!
Lets hope his son gets more of a chance to impress in F1 then Jan ever did.
MagillaGorilla said on 15th February 2012, 0:15
It was a great battle but probably the second time in all of ALMS/LMS history that I wanted to kick my tv and/or computer screen. I’m a massive Vette fan and the ending wasn’t very pleasing this to me was on the same level of what Davidson pulled on the Vette crew in 2010 24h.
Skett (@skett) said on 15th February 2012, 1:58
ok that battle was pretty intense!
Also can’t understand why the martials in f1 can’t do that. Literally just radioing through and telling them to let him back (and quickly too, although I do kinda disagree with the decision)
Mike (@mike) said on 15th February 2012, 8:20
Well, you can’t have cars racing in the pit lane…
And, it’s not fair to the defender….. I can easily see why they did it.
But I’m amazed they could just have it sorted so quickly. Lucky it wasn’t F1.
AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse) said on 15th February 2012, 6:23
Bergmeister didn’t get a penalty for driving Magnussen in the wall? Wow..
Mike (@mike) said on 15th February 2012, 8:20
Wow no? That was really dangerous…
Roald (@roald) said on 15th February 2012, 13:14
I can’t believe it either. How on earth did Bergmeister get away with that?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 15th February 2012, 13:44
@pjtierney I just watched that for the first time, tense stuff!
Shimks (@shimks) said on 15th February 2012, 18:08
Thank you so much for that link. FANTASTIC STUF!!
Joel Holland (@jholland) said on 14th February 2012, 15:49
The boy is very quick. Fully expect to see him in a grand prix seat in a few years time.
Slr (@slr) said on 14th February 2012, 16:08
His father was quick before he made it Formula One, hopefully for Kevin’s sake he is quicker if he is to make Formula One.
Fixy (@fixy) said on 14th February 2012, 16:09
He is definitely a young driver I’m (and F1 teams as well) keeping an eye on, I expect him to impress in the lower series.
supernicebob (@supernicebob) said on 14th February 2012, 16:03
So, a Senna in a Williams-Renault, will we see a Magnussen in a McLaren-Mercedes at a race this year for further mid-nineties nostalgia? Take care of your appendixes Jenson and Lewis!
raymondu999 (@raymondu999) said on 14th February 2012, 16:57
I seem to remember Jan driving in a McLaren. Didn’t Jan drive for them at a race before? My memory’s not 100% on this.
Estesark (@estesark) said on 14th February 2012, 18:27
Your memory is correct. I don’t say that based on my own memory; the information is in the article!
I Love Pope Benedict said on 14th February 2012, 18:22
I prefer to envision Magnus ver Magnussen driving for McLaren.
Or, at least, lifting or pulling one.
http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/users16/lipglossgrrrl/default/magnus-ver-magnusson–large-msg-119939633827.jpg
cduk_mugello (@cduk_mugello) said on 14th February 2012, 18:31
So, this isn’t a race drive. It isn’t a third driver role. It isn’t a one off test drive. It’s the chance of a one off test drive.
Not meaning to sound negative but this seems to be a bit of a non-story for me.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 14th February 2012, 18:38
Well you do. Not least because you’ve already decided (for who knows what reason) that should Magnussen get a test it will be a “one-off”.
People might well have said the same of the time McLaren invested in Lewis Hamilton, and that worked out pretty well for them.
Poul said on 14th February 2012, 19:20
Where is the thumbs up button??
I’d love to see Kevin getting a full drive since he has the best attitude I’ve seen in a youngster for quite a while!
His father was the same and Jackie Stewart even called him the greatest raw talent since Senna but unfortunately he was lacking work ethics. Kevin seems to be lacking neither.
Those of you who followed GP F3 will know that he certainly didn’t achieve runner up by luck. On the very contrary!
cduk_mugello (@cduk_mugello) said on 14th February 2012, 21:14
@KeithCollantine
Your ability to sound cutting really puts me off commenting on this website.
I know I sound negative. I’m not stupid. That why I put “Not meaning to sound negative”, in the hope that those reading might understand that I’m willing to give the guy a chance. To put a cocky little “well you do” is petty.
The thing is, I put “a bit of a non-story for me“. It’s my view. My own personal view. So why not get off my back for a change.
My issue was that this story is based on shoulds, coulds, woulds. He might get a test. As might one of their other young drivers.
Peter Allen said on 14th February 2012, 23:29
No, read the story. He will get a test.
The fact that Jan had a son at the age of 19 when he was supposed to be racing in Formula Ford sort of proved something was wrong with his work ethic! :D
Poul said on 15th February 2012, 15:52
Actually, that’s a really good point! :-) He’s doing pretty good in Le Mans though.
Søren Kaae (@soerenkaae) said on 16th February 2012, 21:22
Jan has always been very honest that, it was his work moral, and ability to focus on driving that made his F1-career short lived. Also one can be sure that Kevin will have been taught this by his dad. He is probably as talented as his father, but with the right mind for F1 and European racing.
A fun fact is that Jan and Kevin never actually raced each other, but rumours go around saying they will probably race each other at the “Classic Race Aarhus” in June. I would be complicated as Jan can only drive GM cars, and Kevin might only be allowed to race Mercedes engined cars.
lordhesketh (@lordhesketh) said on 15th February 2012, 23:41
Zing! +1 to that.
I rarely leave a comment for the same reason.
Mike (@mike) said on 15th February 2012, 8:24
I kinda agree with cduk, Kevin is a hell of a long way off F1, and even ignoring that there are quite a few more promising prospects…
For Kevin, it’s fantastic, chance of a lifetime… But as fans… There’s a bit to go yet.
ajokay (@ajokay) said on 15th February 2012, 8:56
You can still be a fan of his if he’s not driving in F1. Unless you’re only an F1 fan, of course.
Mike (@mike) said on 15th February 2012, 13:43
True.
Joel Holland (@jholland) said on 15th February 2012, 9:24
Thing is, Macca don’t mess about sending press releases for any kid they have on their books. They also don’t just rent their cars out to people who’ll pay at tests. So from them this is a big statement of their belief in K.Mag. Generally young drivers they trust end up with jobs in some capacity.
q85 said on 14th February 2012, 18:38
you know your getting old when a driver you remember coming through the ranks as a youngster, has a son who now is testing for mclaren
Klaas (@klaas) said on 14th February 2012, 20:00
relax dude, Jan is only 38 so you’re both not so old
q85 said on 14th February 2012, 21:02
lol good to know. what happened with jan, how comes it just never clicked for him. happens so often when drivers make the big step up to f1.
ob1kenobi.23 (@ob1kenobi23) said on 15th February 2012, 2:15
You know your getting old when a driver you saw coming through the ranks has a son who was F1 world champ 16 years ago & is already over 11 years retired from F1.
KaIIe (@kaiie) said on 14th February 2012, 19:05
IIRC Jan Magnussen was hailed as the next Senna in the mid-90s, so how good is Kevin supposed to be? As good as Bruno?
Poul said on 14th February 2012, 19:23
See my post above. Kevin has one thing that his father did not. You might be up for a surprise.
sw6569 (@sw6569) said on 14th February 2012, 19:34
Ah Jan Magnussen. A great enigma of F1…fantastically brilliant pre F1 and decidedly average when he got there. Then again, to be average when he didn’t have a proper fitness routine or the work hard attitude that F1 requires shows how much talent he really had. Jan was the only driver at the time who smoked if I recall correctly.
I wish Kevin all the best. If he puts his mind to it, he could well be as good as his father was pre F1. With the right attitude, he’ll go far.
Poul said on 15th February 2012, 1:22
That is exactly right. Jan was a very laid back character. However, he also spent his entire F1 career basically evaluating carbon fiber gear boxes which were brand new at the time but rarely lasted an entire race. Before the Stewarts ever got slightly reliable he was sacked.
John H (@john-h) said on 14th February 2012, 20:36
Doesn’t quite roll of the tongue does it?! Man I wish they’d call it McLaren like the rest of us but obviously that’s never going to happen.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 14th February 2012, 23:45
Can’t say I’m familiar with the guy or his father but it’s good to see McLaren actually sticking a young driver in a Young Driver test.
nackavich (@nackavich) said on 15th February 2012, 2:00
When I think of Magnussen I think of F1 World Grand Prix on the Nintendo 64, and how Jan was one of the drivers I always used to crash into and barge off the road because I thought he had a girly name!
The other one was Olivier Panis!
I miss being 10 years old…
PT (@pt) said on 15th February 2012, 15:17
McLaren also has another Dutchman (Dutch kid, rather) coming up the ranks – Nick de Vries (though he still has to prove himself in car racing). They also have Oliver Turvey. So (I’m just hypothesizing) should Lewis Hamilton decide to turn his back, McLaren have someone to give a call to.
Poul said on 15th February 2012, 15:59
Another kid who is Dutch, you mean. Danish and Dutch is about as different as British and French! I never understood the confusion – the countries don’t even border. Maybe because both capitals are known as rather “liberal” :-)
Martin Rasmussen (@floptickle) said on 23rd October 2012, 9:25
I thought this was decided at the beginning of the season. I remember seeing a lot about it in the danisih media around feb/mar