Kevin Jan Magnussen (Danish pronunciation: [ˈkʰɛ.ven ˈjan ˈmaw.nus.n]; born 5 October 1992), also known simply as K-Mag, is a Danish racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for WRT as a factory driver for BMW, and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing. Magnussen competed in Formula One from 2014 to 2020 and 2022 to 2024.
Born and raised in Roskilde, Magnussen is the son of four-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class-winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Graduating from karting to junior formulae in 2008, Magnussen won his first championship at the 2008 Danish Formula Ford Championship. He then finished as runner-up to António Félix da Costa at the Formula Renault NEC in 2009, and to Felipe Nasr at the British Formula 3 International Series in 2011. Progressing to Formula Renault 3.5 in 2012, Magnussen won the championship the following season with DAMS.
A member of the McLaren Young Driver Programme since 2010, Magnussen signed with McLaren in 2014 to partner Jenson Button. He finished second on his Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix, scoring his maiden podium finish and becoming the highest-finishing debutant since Jacques Villeneuve in 1996. Replaced by Fernando Alonso for 2015, Magnussen continued at McLaren as a reserve driver, substituting for Alonso at the season-opener. Magnussen completed a stint at Renault in 2016, before competing with Haas from 2017 until the conclusion of the 2020 season, finishing a career-best ninth in the 2018 World Drivers' Championship. In 2021, Magnussen moved to the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Cadillac, winning the Detroit Classic; he also contested one round of the IndyCar Series with Arrow McLaren, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans with High Class.
Magnussen returned to Haas in 2022 to replace Nikita Mazepin, achieving his maiden pole position at the São Paulo Grand Prix. He retained his seat in 2023 and 2024, becoming the first driver since former teammate Romain Grosjean in 2012 to receive a race ban after the latter Italian Grand Prix, before departing at the end of the season. Magnussen achieved one pole position, three fastest laps and one podium finish in Formula One. He holds the Formula One record for the most career starts without leading a lap (185). Magnussen returned to sportscar racing in 2025, joining BMW as a factory driver.
Kevin Jan Magnussen was born on 5 October 1992 in Roskilde, Denmark. Magnussen is the son of former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. His cousin Dennis Lind and his half-brother Luca Magnussen are also racing drivers.
Magnussen lived in Woking, Surrey, near the McLaren Technology Centre whilst racing for McLaren. In 2019, Magnussen married Louise Gjørup in a private ceremony. They have two daughters, the first one born in 2021 and the second one born in 2023. He lives in Copenhagen with his family.
Magnussen began his career in karting.
In 2008, Magnussen made the step up to Formula Ford in Denmark, taking eleven victories from fifteen races and winning the championship. He also took part in six races of the ADAC Formel Masters series.
Between participating in Formula Ford in 2008 and unexpectedly securing sponsorship for Formula Renault in 2009, Magnussen was forced to abandon his racing career and work as a factory welder due to lack of funding.
In 2009, Magnussen moved up to Formula Renault 2.0 with Motopark Academy. He finished runner-up to António Félix da Costa in the Northern European Cup and finished seventh in the Eurocup.
In 2010, Magnussen competed in the German Formula Three Championship with Motopark Academy, winning the opening round of the season at Oschersleben and taking two more race victories. He finished third in the championship, taking the rookie title in the process.
In 2011, Magnussen moved to the British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin. He took seven race victories and finished as championship runner-up to teammate Felipe Nasr. He also competed in the Masters of Formula 3 race at Zandvoort, finishing third. 2011 marked Magnussen's first and only appearance at the Macau Grand Prix. He placed seventh in qualifying, but was forced to start from the back of the grid in the qualification race after ignoring yellow flags. He started the main race from nineteenth place, but was eliminated after a high-speed collision late in the race.
Magnussen moved up to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2012 with the Carlin team, with Will Stevens as his teammate. Magnussen finished the opening race at Motorland Aragón in second place, and took pole position in both races at Spa-Francorchamps, converting the second into a race victory. He ended the season in seventh place in the championship. He remained in Formula Renault 3.5 for 2013, moving to DAMS alongside Norman Nato. 2013 was far more successful for Magnussen, claiming five victories, eight other podium places and eight pole positions. He finished the season as champion, sixty points clear of runner-up Stoffel Vandoorne.
A member of the McLaren Young Driver Programme from 2010 to 2013, Magnussen had his first experience of the McLaren MP4-27 Formula One car on track at the Abu Dhabi Young Driver test in 2012. He set a quickest time of 1:42.651. Previously he had done work in the team's driving simulator. Magnussen's time was the best of the three-day test impressing McLaren's sporting director Sam Michael. The distance he covered in the course of the test was sufficient to earn his FIA Super Licence.
Magnussen would drive for McLaren for the 2014 season, replacing Sergio Pérez. In line with a new rule introduced for the 2014 season requiring drivers to choose a car number to use during their Formula One career, Magnussen raced with number 20 as this was the number he had on his DAMS car in 2013 when he won the Formula Renault 3.5 championship.
At the Jerez and Bahrain pre-season tests, Magnussen topped the timesheets, and at the first race in Australia, he qualified in fourth position. In the race itself, Magnussen avoided crashing at the start after his car encountered oversteer through wheelspin. After passing Lewis Hamilton's ailing Mercedes in the early stages, Magnussen maintained position to take a third place finish; he finished 2.2 seconds behind Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. As a result, Magnussen became the second Danish driver – after his father Jan, who was sixth at the 1998 Canadian Grand Prix – to take a points-scoring finish, the first Danish podium finisher and the first debutant, since Hamilton at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix, to take a podium in his first Grand Prix. After the race, Magnussen described the result as "like a victory". He was later promoted to second place in the results, after Ricciardo was disqualified due to fuel irregularities, making him the first rookie to finish second since Jacques Villeneuve at the 1996 Australian Grand Prix. Magnussen recorded eleven further points-scoring finishes throughout 2014, the majority being ninth or tenth place finishes; although he recorded seventh place finishes in Austria and Great Britain – circuits where he had prior experience from junior formulae – and a fifth place finish in Russia.
Fernando Alonso replaced Magnussen for the 2015 season and Magnussen became the test and reserve driver for McLaren. Magnussen had talks with Honda-powered team Andretti Autosport to compete in the 2015 IndyCar Series, but McLaren blocked the deal. Magnussen competed in one race, the Australian Grand Prix after doctors advised Alonso to not race due to a concussion sustained during an accident during pre-season testing. However, Magnussen failed to start the race after suffering an engine failure on the formation lap. Magnussen was released from McLaren at the end of the year.
After being released by McLaren, Magnussen was confirmed to have been in discussion to drive for the Haas F1 Team, before Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez were named as the team's drivers. Magnussen had reportedly also been in talks about a seat at Manor Racing. Magnussen tested a Mercedes DTM car, and Porsche's LMP1 car, hinting that he may have had options outside Formula One, including IndyCar, where he was believed to have entered talks with Bryan Herta Autosport about a drive.