By Joe Murphy
Kevin Magnussen may be a veteran racing driver among the F1 ranks, but there are still a number of things even true fans of the Dane don’t know. Let’s dive into a few shocking facts about the Haas driver, that may come as a huge surprise to you…
1. His Dad won Le Mans!
Most people know that Magnussen is a second generation driver, meaning his father raced in F1 too. What is a lesser known fact is that fact racing talent is literally in his blood. His father didn’t just win the prestigious Le Mans event, he did so four times. Jan Magnussen even raced in NASCAR, so in some ways, it’s no surprise that K-Mag ended up racing with the world’s best for over a decade.
2. His average for points is over 1!
Despite racing for teams towards the back of the grid for over half his career, Magnussen still averages over a point a race, at the time of writing. Coming in around 1.23, a driver who averages over a point per race must be consistent. Especially over a huge number of Grand Prix over many years getting used to different cars and environments.
3. He is younger than Daniel Ricciardo!
You’d be forgiven for thinking that a vastly experienced racer such as Magnussen is getting on. In fact, he’s a lot younger than people think. Recently turning 32, he is only a couple of years older than Carlos Sainz. However, a driver with over 180 races in the sport and a year out is barely over 30 years of age. Daniel Ricciardo is 34, teammate Hulkenberg is approaching the late thirties and Hamilton and Alonso are nearly a decade older than the Dane. Just goes to show how much more he could offer in the sport long term.
4. He is a semi-pro Jet Ski master!
As is common, a professional sportsman is good at another sport. However, rather unusually, this involves the water. Being an athlete for Formula 1 must help with this as Magnussen is a very good, semi-pro level waterskiier and even owns several jet skis. At least we know a back up career option when Magnussen is done with racing cars round a track.
5. He is the only man on the grid to race with every engine type!
Since the introduction of engine suppliers for the hybrid era in 2014, only one driver has competed using all of them at least once. Kevin Magnussen started out at McLaren, using Mercedes and Honda power during his stint. His latest tenure with Haas has been run on Ferrari power, and even whilst with Renault, he used their own engine supply. This is something no other driver currently in the sport, can claim they have done.
WHEEL2WHEEL REPORTS 