Chip Ganassi Racing has signed up former Formula 1 drivers Kevin Magnussen and Marcus Ericsson for the 24 Hours of Daytona.
On Friday, the team announced it will be running two cars at the famous 24-hour race for the full season with Magnussen, a former Haas and McLaren driver who finished fifth with the team at last year’s running of the event.
Magnussen will team up with former Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson in the No. 02 Cadillac DPI at Daytona, with former Williams development driver Alex Lynn and two-time Le Mans 24 Hour winner Earl Bamber rounding out the lineup for the 2022 season.
Former Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Bourdais, who won the 24 Hours of Daytona with Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa in 2014, will also be in the cockpit of the sister No. 01 car.
After quitting Formula 1, Ericsson has been racing for Ganassi in IndyCar since 2020, finishing sixth in the championship in 2021 and will therefore add WeatherTech SportsCars to his driving schedule in 2022.
Formula 1 drivers venturing in to the 24 Hours of Daytona is not a new thing. Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris teamed up in 2018, and Alonso returned the following year to win the race.
Magnussen, who competed in Le Mans alongside his father Jan last season, has previously noted the different attitude required to compete in endurance racing over Formula 1, claiming that there are numerous aspects to consider which would not be the case in Formula 1.
“You’re having to look forward so far. In a Formula 1 race, you’re more inclined to take risk in the beginning of the race when everyone’s close together, for example,” Magnussen said.
“Whereas in a 24-hour race, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. All the way through the race you get in situations, let’s say with six hours to go, and you feel like you’ve done a long race already, you feel like you’re getting towards the end and you start fighting, and then you remember it’s still six hours to go.”
“So, judging when to really take risk against the others is one thing I would say is different, like the mentality of racing other people.”
On the 29th and 30th of January, the 24 Hours of Daytona will take place.
