F1 DRIVERS IN LMP2
GP DRIVERS ON THE TOUGHEST CLASS We speak to the 11 ex-formula 1 drivers contesting the competitive LMP2 category
KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
Kevin Magnussen will be killing two birds with one stone when he races at the Le Mans 24 Hours next week. He’ll be getting some all-important experience of the big race under his belt in advance of joining Peugeot’s World Endurance Championship assault next year, and he’ll be fulfilling a long-held ambition of racing with his father, Jan, in one of the world’s big enduros.
The Magnussens are teaming up in a High Class Racing ORECA-GIBSON 07 together with fellow Dane Anders Fjordbach. It is an additional car from the Danish entrant to the one his team-mates are racing full-time in the World Endurance Championship this year, and presents an opportunity for father and son to do something that they’ve talked about for years.
“Sharing a car with my dad is something I’ve always wanted to do,” says Magnussen, whose F1 career drew to a close last year after 119 GPS with Mclaren, Renault and Haas. “Le Mans is the biggest thing we could do together, so it really is a dream come true.”
Magnussen says he first started talking about teaming up with dad at Le Mans when he was about 15. They got serious in the 2010s when they discussed Kevin joining his father at Corvette Racing as a third driver for the long races on its programme.
“A lot of the time it was just me and dad talking over the dinner table,” recalls the 28-year-old. “But there were years when it got more serious and dad was working hard to make it happen. Corvette was keen, but the problem was the Sebring 12 Hours clashing with the grand prix in Melbourne. They didn’t just need me to do Le Mans, they needed me do the long races in the IMSA Sportscar Championship as well. It always fell down on that.”
Magnussen Jr is racing full-time in IMSA with Chip Ganassi Racing this year, a deal done after he signed his Peugeot contract. The French manufacturer supported his efforts to get on the grid this season. “They see it as a great opportunity for me to learn about Le Mans,” he says. “Driving with my dad, someone who’s done the race 22 times, is a great way to do that. That’s going to be invaluable for the future.”
But Magnussen’s maiden Le Mans won’t just be about learning: “I don’t see why we shouldn’t be dreaming about winning LMP2.”
JAN MAGNUSSEN
When Jan Magnussen was left out of a drive at Corvette Racing at the end of 2019 after he was the loser in a politically charged game of musical chairs, retirement was the last thing on his mind. The news that he wouldn’t be getting a new contract after 16 years with the Chevrolet squad explains why he didn’t do much last year.
“I didn’t want to stop, though I was afraid that might have been the result,” says the Dane, who made 24 F1 starts with Mclaren and Stewart in 1995 and 1997-98. “It all happened very late.”
A deal to race in the TCR Denmark series came along pretty quickly, as did the chance to test for the High Class squad with which he is racing in the WEC this year. A plan for an additional entry at Le Mans last year that Magnussen would have driven fell over, but he has segued into a full-time drive for 2021 – only with a difference, because he’s swapped cars for Le Mans.
Magnussen reckons this was the last chance for him to do Le Mans with son Kevin: “He’s off to Peugeot and when he’s done,
I’m going to be far too old: this was absolutely the last shot.
“Kevin first came to Le Mans in 2003 when I was driving the Goh Audi R8 and fell in love with the race,” he says. “We’ve been talking about doing it together from even before he started racing cars. Regardless of the result, doing Le Mans with my son at a time when I’m still competitive will be one of the biggest things I’ve done in my career.”
Magnussen believes he’s still got a few more Le Mans starts in him yet. This year will be his 23rd participation, if you include 2015, when he was ruled out of the race after a crash in qualifying. And he definitely does: “I’ve still got the bruises to show I was there.
“I love racing and I love driving these cars,” he says. “I’m going to keep going for as long as the team want me. They’re going to have to kick me out.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
Juan Pablo Montoya got a call on his mobile late last summer from a number he didn’t recognise. It turned out to be Dragonspeed boss Elton Julian offering him a drive for Le Mans a couple of weeks hence. The seven-time grand prix winner said yes to the chance to drive a P2 car, and again when he had the opportunity to join the team full time in this year’s WEC, his first Europeanbased programme since the end of his F1 career in 2006.
“I was here in Europe, I had a weekend off, so I thought, ‘let’s go’,” recalls the former Williams and Mclaren F1 driver. “Elton told me that there would be no media or stuff like that. What wasn’t to like? I’d really enjoyed doing Le Mans the first time with United [Autosports in 2018].”
A move to Europe for this season to oversee son Sebastian’s fledgling career in Formula 4 in Italy and Germany, as well as a lack of opportunities in North America after the end of the Penske Acura programme that yielded the IMSA Sportscar Championship title in 2019, explains why he stayed on for this year.
“There was nothing for me in America, and the Indy 500 thing [with the Schmidt-run Mclaren squad] came after I’d agreed to race for Elton,” explains the 45-year-old. “I like racing for his team; it’s all very relaxed.”
Yet still challenging, he insists. Montoya is racing in the Pro-am section of the LMP2 division, and acknowledges that a big part of his job is getting team patron and Bronze-rated Henrik Hedman up to speed in the ORECA they share with Ben Hanley.
“It’s all about making Henrik go as fast as possible,” he says. “That’s part of the programme, going through the data and the onboards; it’s something I enjoy.
“We’ve been on the podium every race: our target is the championship and to try to win Pro-am at Le Mans.”
FELIPE NASR
Felipe Nasr got his first experience of sportscar racing as a 19-year-old when he contested the 2012 Daytona 24 Hours as the prize for winning the Sunoco Daytona Challenge during his championship year in British Formula 3. So when his F1 career came to an end after 39 starts with Sauber in 2015-16, he turned back to endurance racing to continue his career.
“When I finished F1, I looked at the big championships and races I wanted to win,” says the 28-year-old Brazilian. “Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans, too, were right up there on my list. I want to have those big races on my CV.”
He ticked off the Sebring 12 Hours in 2019, and has come close at the Daytona 24 Hours with a trio of podiums. Now the IMSA Sportscar Championship regular with Action Express Racing has turned his attention to Le Mans, a race he first contested back in 2018 with the Villorba Corse squad. This time, he’s doing the race in a Risi Competizione ORECA shared with Oliver Jarvis and Ryan Cullen.
“I wanted to do Le Mans again, but only with the right package,” he says. “That’s what I’ve got with Risi and Olly and Ryan. I feel like we are in a good position heading into Le Mans.”
ANTHONY DAVIDSON
Anthony Davidson reckons there’s a good chance he’d be a retired racing driver today had he not lost his seat at Toyota to Fernando Alonso for the 2018-19 campaign. That resulted in him making a move to LMP2 two races into the so-called superseason – and he’s enjoyed every minute since.
The former Minardi and Super Aguri racer signed a new contract with Toyota in 2016 that was scheduled to take him up to the end of 2019. That was the year of his 40th birthday, and he says it would have been a neat time to hang up the helmet.
“When you are with a manufacturer there’s a lot of pressure to perform at your best,” says the 2014 WEC title winner. “In my mind I gave myself three more years to try to win Le Mans and then it would come to a natural end. I was definitely toying with the idea of just stopping completely like Allan [Mcnish] did.”
Davidson fulfilled a reserve role for Toyota in the opening two 2018-19 WEC rounds before joining Dragonspeed. It was the result of another call from team boss Elton Julian. “When Elton called me I thought, ‘You know what? P2 is a really competitive environment and I still have a lot to give’,” says Davidson. “The environment is a lot less pressured than when you are working with a manufacturer.”
Davidson has won races in P2 in each of his first three seasons in the class with Dragonspeed and, since 2019-20, Jota, each time driving with Roberto Gonzalez. Antonio Felix da Costa joined them last season for a campaign that yielded a further four podiums.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” says Davidson. “In a way I needed to fall back in love with racing and that’s what I’ve done.”
STOFFEL VANDOORNE
Former Mclaren F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne has established himself in Formula E with Mercedes and is now back in the WEC in P2. He makes no secret of his desire to become one of the pack of drivers who dovetail factory programmes in both the FIA’S electric-vehicle series and endurance racing.
“It would be the best of both worlds,” says the Belgian, a race winner in FE who also has a Le Mans podium to his name with SMP Racing in 2019. “It would make for a busy programme, but
I’d prefer that than not being busy enough.”
Vandoorne made two starts in the WEC aboard one of SMP’S Aer-engined BR Engineering BR1S, at Spa and then Le Mans two years ago, and in doing so ticked a box.
“When F1 stopped and I had the FE gig, the next thing was to do those special races, and Le Mans was one of those,” he explains. “But I wanted to come back into endurance because I knew what was coming; the future of the championship looks very promising. I think it is important to be there and have the experience.”
Vandoorne has linked up with good friend and ex-formula 2 racer Sean Gelael to race a Jota ORECA along with Tom Blomqvist in the full WEC this year. It was dubbed as a ‘super-team’ ahead of the start of the season. They scored a third first time out at Spa and then a close second to the sister Jota car at the Algarve circuit.
“When we haven’t made mistakes, we’ve been on the podium,” he says. “Le Mans is a different game, but we’ve been preparing well and we’re confident we can bring home another good result.”
PAUL DI RESTA
Paul di Resta was in the paddock at the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix in his twin roles as Williams reserve driver and a Sky Sports expert commentator when he was approached by Mclaren’s Zak Brown. The American didn’t want to talk shop, rather offer him the chance to drive an LMP2 for his United Autosports squad.
The chance to drive a United Ligier-nissan JSP217 at the following January’s Daytona 24 Hours began a new chapter in the former Force India and Williams F1 driver’s career. More than four years on from his sportscar debut, he has a Le Mans class victory to his name, has helped United to world championship glory, and has a contract in his briefcase to drive for Peugeot when it joins the WEC with its 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar next season.
“My response to Zak’s question was ‘absolutely’,” recalls the long-time Mercedes DTM driver. “Mercedes knew it was leaving the DTM and didn’t want to stand in my way.
I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like, but I got the bug for endurance racing straight away.”
Di Resta followed up on his Daytona appearance with drives for United at the Sebring and Watkins Glen IMSA enduros, with a maiden Le Mans start sandwiched in between. He then won the 2018-19 Asian Le Mans Series together with Phil Hanson as a lead-in to a WEC campaign in 2019-20. He only missed out on becoming a world champion together with Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque because a clash with his DTM programme with
Aston Martin ruled him out of one of the races.
His performances with United were vital in securing the Peugeot contract, di Resta says. “It showed that I could work with teammates, be part of a team, which I know was important,” he explains. “They obviously did their analysis and that’s how I got signed.”
Peugeot was keen for di Resta to race as much as possible this year. He’s no longer part of United’s full-season WEC line-up, but is racing at Le Mans in an additional entry for the race together with Alex Lynn and Wayne Boyd.
It looks like one of the most formidable line-ups in the class, and di Resta doesn’t disagree: “We’re going in believing that we’ve got a good chance to win. That’s our intent.”
WILL STEVENS
Will Stevens is one of the most experienced and successful LMP2 drivers in the ex-f1 pack. The
Briton has been in the class since his 18-start F1 career with Caterham and Manor ended in 2015, winning in the WEC four times and the ELMS once.
But like so many of the drivers in the category, the Panis Racing driver has his eyes on what’s around the corner. “P2 is a good place to be, but I want to move forward in my career,” says Stevens, who is teamed at Panis with James Allen and Julien Canal. “Le Mans Hypercar is here and LMDH is coming, and 100% I want to be in a factory car. It’s a role I’m sure I would excel at, because helping to develop a car is something I do with Mclaren as a test and development driver.”
Stevens has been with Panis for four seasons, but also contested the 2019-20 WEC with the Jota-run Jackie Chan DC Racing squad. Both of ‘his’ cars were in the mix at Le Mans last year: the Jota ORECA he was driving was leading P2 when it suffered alternator failure in the evening, while the Panis entry ended up third.
“Panis has progressed a lot as a team, and we’ve taken our first win in the ELMS this year,” he says. “I’m sure if we execute well we are going to be there or thereabouts.”
ROBERTO MERHI
Roberto Merhi has been plying his trade in LMP2 on and off since he graced the F1 grid with a partial season with Manor in 2015. It was the British team that gave him his sportscar chance in the WEC the following year. Now he’s back with a full-season programme in 2021 and his sights firmly set on the future.
With sportscar racing entering a bright new era with the arrival of new manufacturers at the front of the grid, the
Spaniard knows where he wants to go after signing up for a full ELMS programme with G-drive Racing this year.
“The target is to get a factory seat,” he says. “That could be in the WEC or it could be in America in IMSA.”
Not that he’s playing down the ELMS: “The series is getting stronger and stronger. The level of the teams and drivers is now really very high. I prefer it that way, because it makes it more fun.”
Merhi and team-mates Rui Andrade and John Falb have finished either first or second in Pro-am in each of the four races so far and have also notched up a third overall. They are well placed to challenge for Pro-am honours at Le Mans, he reckons, despite a line-up in which he is the only professional.
“There are some cars that have two pros, but John is a very strong Bronze – he’s quick and he doesn’t make mistakes,” says Merhi, adding that Angolan sportscar rookie Andrade is “improving by the race”.
ROBERT KUBICA
Robert Kubica has two jobs these days: fulfilling a reserve role with the Alfa Romeo F1 team and racing. Last year that meant driving an Art-run BMW in the DTM, but the German championship’s shift to GT3 rules sent him looking for a new opportunity.
The Pole reckoned racing a GT car wouldn’t have been compatible with his F1 job that encompasses the odd FP1 appearance and test. Racing an LMP2 prototype, he reasoned, was a better fit, which is why he’s now competing in the ELMS with WRT.
“I have my other job with Alfa and whatever I do in terms of racing has to fit with that,” says Kubica, whose F1 career has so far stretched to 97 starts either side of the rallying accident in which he suffered severe arm injuries in early 2011. “I was attracted by the new challenge of endurance racing, and Le Mans in particular.”
He and team-mates Louis Deletraz and Yifei Ye have already won twice in the ELMS this year. They are leading the championship as they head into the big one, and Kubica reckons that if they can replicate their earlyseason form they will have a chance.
“Barcelona was probably our best executed race,” he says. “We’ve proved that if we have a smooth weekend and do our jobs on the track and in the pits, we have all the ingredients to be at the front.”
GIEDO VAN DER GARDE
Giedo van der Garde calls himself a semi-professional driver these days. He called time on his racing career nearly five years ago, only to be tempted back to drive in the all-dutch Racing Team Nederland line-up by team boss Frits van Eerd.
Van der Garde, who started 19 grands prix with Caterham in 2013, hung up his helmet after his first spell in LMP2 in 2016. He started to look beyond racing after he’d won the ELMS in a Jota-run ORECA-NISSAN 05 fielded under the G-drive banner for himself, Harry Tincknell and Simon Dolan.
“There wasn’t really a lot going on, so I decided to stop,” he says. “I started a real estate company and began to do some other things. Then Frits came along with a really nice offer. It’s not so many races, so it allows me to do my day job and it’s not such high pressure. We have a lot of fun and laughs together, but are still very professional when we get in the car.
“I take it very seriously out on the track and push it all the way. You may have seen some of my starts: I like to make it entertaining and it’s good for Jumbo [van Eerd’s supermarket chain that backs the RTN programme].”
RTN claimed a class victory in its second season in 2019-20 after a swap from the Dayvtech team to TDS Racing and from the Dallara chassis to an ORECA. It took a further three podiums on the way to fourth place in P2 teams’ points as a line-up that included a Bronze-rated driver in van Eerd punched above its weight.
The new P2 Pro-am sub-class, for crews containing a Bronze, has given RTN the chance to shoot for a world title, the primary target. “You always aim for the top, but in my mind we are going for the Pro-am win,” says van der Garde. “Frits’s aim now is to win a world title and I think we have a good shot at it. A win at Le Mans will help us in that direction.”