Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Australia ruined Magnussen IndyCar chances

Kevin Magnussen says his call-up to replace Fernando Alonso at the Australian Grand Prix ended his hopes of racing in IndyCar this year.

Having been demoted to reserve driver this season, Magnussen was keen to race elsewhere alongside his McLaren duties and was in talks about an IndyCar switch if the schedule would allow. However, with Alonso’s pre-season testing crash ruling him out of the opening race of the year, Magnussen stepped in to the car but had to end negotiations about a switch to the US as a result.

“We were looking at IndyCar and trying to get an Indy drive but always with Formula One as the first priority and still with the plan of being test and reserve driver for McLaren,” Magnussen said. “When I stepped in for Fernando in Australia that wasn't possible anymore so we just dropped it.

“Now I’m only planning to just do this and you never know what can come up during the year. For the moment the only thing that’s certain is that I’m going to be at the races.”

And Magnussen says his long-term ambitions give him enough motivation for the year despite not being able to race in another series.

“I’d prefer to be racing. I’d love to be racing but I have a vision, I have a goal and a plan, so it’s not too bad. Of course it’s a bit boring and frustrating at the moment, but as long as you have something to look forward to and a plan and a vision then it helps and you have something to look forward to.”

Click here for former Honda engineer Jacky Eeckelaert's Malaysian Grand Prix debrief

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.