Magnussen joins Peugeot WEC programme

The French manufacturer Peugeot has confirmed that former F1 driver Kevin Magnussen would join its driver line-up for their World Endurance Championship comeback in 2022.

The French manufacturer will make its comeback to the World Endurance Championship next year, joining the series’ newly-created LMH hybrid prototypes class. Peugeot will field two cars, and has now confirmed seven drivers with Kevin Magnussen, Jean-Eric Vergne, Paul di Resta, Loic Duval, Mikkel Jensen, Gustavo Menezes and James Rossiter forming its line-up. The 37-year-old Briton will serve as the team’s reserve and simulator driver.

After his departure from Haas F1 Team, Magnussen is now set to continue his racing career in sports car racing just as his father has done following his own tenure at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Just two weeks ago, the Dane made his debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. While he had hopes of making a winning debut, a late-race puncture deprived him of any chance of a sensational debut race. In the end, he ended the race fifth with his team mates Scott Dixon and Renger van der Zande.

Apart from announcing his plans for 2022, the Dane has also rules out a possible return as a substitute at the Haas F1 Team.
"Gunther is a good friend, as are many people in the Haas F1 team, but any talk about racing, like a one-off race, I don't have much interest in that," said Magnussen.

"I like to be fully focused on what I am doing and I miss winning. I've done seven years of F1, [so] doing one more race I don't think is that interesting."

Commenting on the announcement, Olivier Jansonnie, WEC Technical Director, Peugeot Sport, said: “We looked at all the endurance racing championships that have been organised over the past five years.”

“We didn’t just take individual results into consideration. We also examined the speed, consistency and reliability of a long list of drivers because we are looking for a line-up that meshes together well, with an eclectic mix of upcoming youngsters and experienced campaigners with proven development skills, especially in the field of hybrid power trains.”