These days an active Grand Prix driver is not as flexible in his choices as drivers once were. The reasons are simple; to compete in Grand Prix racing today there are too many strings attached.
For example, no driver can hope to go into Grand Prix racing without the understanding that probably he, and certainly the team he raced with was only been made possible by sponsorship at a very costly level. That in turn also leads to commitment away from the track in promoting the sponsors by public appearances even after his Formula 1 racing career is over.
However, at the same time, the end of a Formula 1 career can often lead to an even more challenging racing programme such as in sports cars, Indycar racing, or international GTs and a fine exemplar of that progression is our newest member of the Grand Prix Drivers Club, Jan Magnussen.
It is hard to believe that it will be 30 years since Jan took part in his first Grand Prix, the Pacific Grand Prix of 1995 a race that was delayed from April to October due to the Hanshun earthquake that hit Japan.
Today’s enthusiasts are more concentrated on Jan’s son Kevin and his exploits with HAAS in Formula 1 but what about Jan?
Jan Ellegaard Magnussen was born in 1973 in Roskilde, Denmark which just happens to host the Roskildering, Denmark’s most important motor racing circuit at the time.
He was another young driver who originally made his name in karting where he became World Junior Champion and then in Formula Ford – a category developed by Walter Hayes at Ford Motor Company that has been the starting place for the majority of grand prix drivers since it began.
Jan’s first FF race was at Jyllandsring and as Britain had become the most important place to move forward in motor racing it was no surprise when Jan arrived in Britain for the 1992 Formula Ford Festival. He won it outright driving the Foundation Racing, Duckhams-sponsored Van Diemen RF92. Then a drive in the short-lived Formula Vauxhall Lotus series gave him four wins and he was picked up by Jackie and Paul Stewart to race in Formula 3 for Paul Stewart Racing in 1993 and 1994 with their Mugen-Honda’s
In 1994 he surprised everyone for in 18 races he won 14 of them and became Formula 3 Champion that year.
This brought Ron Dennis into the picture and Jan at the end of that season was given a test in a McLaren-Peugeot Formula 1 car.
When McLaren signed up with Mercedes Benz for Formula 1 in 1995 Magnussen was signed by Mercedes Benz for the International Touring Car Championship with C class V6’s and despite having seven heat wins finished only 8th but his proper Formula 1 chance came at the end of 1985 when McLaren-Mercedes driver, and club member, Mikka Hakkinen had an operation for appendicitis and Jan was given his first Formula 1 race in the Pacific Grand Prix where he finished 10th.
Jan’s life with Mercedes led to a new adventure in 1996 when he joined the Roger Penske and John Hogan run CART teams for Indycar racing but it was not a good move and he had no real success adapting to that specialised form of racing.
He also continued with Mercedes in the International Touring Car Championship but towards the end of 1996 Jackie Stewart was to bring Jan into his newly formed Stewart-Ford Formula 1 team.
His teammate was Rubens Barrichello and the two newcomers had a mixed season, Jan retiring in 12 of his races but mainly with mechanical problems so was retained for 1998.
In the first seven races of that season, he retired, but only once in an accident with Ralf Schumacher in Australia and the rest with mechanical problems. At the French Grand Prix, he was dropped and replaced by Jos Verstappen who did little better for Stewart-Ford.
Once more America beckoned and he took up the offer from Don Panoz to race with Panoz in the American Le Mans Sports Car series and finished 11th in the 1999 Le Mans 24-hour race in a Panoz.
A move to General Motors and Chevrolet Corvette Racing saw him win his class at Le Mans in 2004/5/6 and 9 in Chevrolet Corvettes with regular co- drivers Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin.
Jan hustling the mighty Chevrolet Corvettes in early 200’s. ( Peter Nygaard Grand Prix Photo.)
These days he still keeps an eye on his son Kevin Magnussen who has raced for HAAS this season in Formula 1.
Jan was enthusiastic in supporting Kevin from his earliest days such as below, where he is giving advice to Kevin as an eight-year old.
Unlike many Formula 1 drivers, Jan has never walked away from racing at an International level and his various races since 2000 reflect his tremendous enthusiasm for racing to this day.
Take for example 2010 when he gave NASCAR a try and ran a Phoenix racing Chevrolet Impala SS CoT in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. Or 2013 when he did the European Le Mans Series in a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. In 2016 he drove an Audi R8 LMS in the Blancpain endurance series, a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo in the LM-GTA-Am in the 2020 Le Mans 24 hr. race, and an Oreca 0M7 Gibson in the LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2023.
So why did Jan join the Grand Prix Drivers Club?
“Well, I feel it gives we former grand prix drivers the chance to get together again in a non-competitive way and for our younger generation compare notes with some of the great grand prix drivers of earlier periods” .
In Jan Magnussen we have a true motor racing enthusiast who is still capable and willing to don his racing suit and go racing with the best.
Graham Gauld