Former Haas driver Kevin Magnussen said a Formula One car “lacks a little bit of soul” compared to the sports car he is testing ahead of his debut season in IMSA.
Magnussen signed up to the North American sports car series after failing to secure an F1 contract for 2021. The Danish driver raced in seven of the previous eight seasons of F1, with one year as McLaren reserve driver the year after his rookie season with the British team in 2014.
After completing his first shakedown laps of his Cadillac DPi-V.R at Sebring this week, Magnussen said it made him realise what he had been missing out on.
Speaking to RACER, he said: “I’ve been driving an airplane, basically, for the last six or seven years. Which is awesome — driving an F1 car is great fun, but it lacks a little bit of soul.
“There’s something missing. F1 used to have that, but coming back and driving the Cadillac DPi has been a real eye opener. The sound and the way the engine responds — even the track. Sebring, it doesn’t get more old school than this. It’s kind of a dream come true.”
He added: “Everything I look at here is new to me. The whole car, of course, but even the language they use to talk about the car, and all the systems, and setup-wise, the language is really different. I feel at home straight away. It’s been awesome to drive a real race car again.”
Magnussen and his teammate of the past four seasons, Romain Grosjean, were dropped by Haas at the end of 2020. The American team goes into the 2021 campaign with an all-rookie lineup of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
