Kevin Magnussen will join BMW for 2025, the Dane has announced.
The F1 veteran, who will make his 185th race start in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, has revealed that he will move to BMW M Motorsport in the World Endurance Championship next season – joining the German brand’s hypercar programme for a crack at races including the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans. And he could have a very famous teammate, with MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi already a BMW driver, and the nine-time world champion making clear his desire to drive the team’s hypercar in endurance racing’s premier class.
Magnussen made his F1 debut for McLaren in 2014, securing one podium before being demoted to the team’s reserve driver. He returned to the grid with Renault in 2016, before a move to Haas – where he spent four seasons, securing a career best finish of ninth in the standings. After trying his hand at sports cars and Indycar in 2021, he returned to Haas for 2022 – memorably taking his maiden pole position in Brazil in 2022. Haas announced earlier this year that they would field an all-new lineup for 2025 – with Esteban Ocon and Brit Oliver Bearman replacing the Dane and veteran German Nico Hulkenberg.
Commenting on the move, Magnussen said: “I am happy and proud to represent such an iconic motorsport brand as BMW in some of the world’s most legendary races. After ten years in Formula 1, I am embarking on a new and exciting chapter, and I look forward to taking on the challenge in the most innovative and advanced sports cars in the history of endurance racing.
“A huge thank you to BMW M Motorsport for this fantastic opportunity. I can hardly wait to start the preparations and look forward to kicking off the 2025 season with the rest of the team.”
Magnussen could be joined in the hypercar by Valentino Rossi who, following his rookie test in Bahrain last month, was just a tenth of a second off the pace. The 45-year-old Italian said: “It was a fantastic day. I had the chance to drive the BMW M Hybrid V8 for the entire day, with the whole crew and [regular driver] René Rast who gave me advice. I enjoyed it a lot, the car is fantastic, very fast and very strong.
“It has a lot of power, the lap times have been 15 seconds faster than in the GT3 [that Rossi usually drives], the tyres have great grip. It is a real race car. I was quite worried because I had never driven the Hypercar before, but I felt good from the first lap on because the car is stable and gave a good feedback. To go fast is very difficult but it’s a lot of fun. I have to say thank you for that great experience and I hope that I can have another chance to try the car.”