Former F1 driver: 'Different mentality at Le Mans than in Formula 1'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
In just under two hours, the 24 hours of Le Mans will start. Former Haas driver Kevin Magnussen makes his debut and talks about the differences in mentality between Formula 1 and endurance racing.
Magnussen drove in F1 for six years and then left for the US. Last January the Dane had his first 24-hour experience in Daytona. This weekend he will race with his father Jan Magnussen in Le Mans. Magnussen talks about the main differences between F1 and endurance racing when it comes to driver mentality.
"At the end of the day it is just trying to drive fast anyway, but I think in a 24-hour race, the mentality is different", he is quoted on F1i.com. "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."
"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 that I would say is different, like the mentality of racing other people."
Traffic in F1 different
Managing traffic in F1 is also very different than during 24 hours. "And then you’ve got the whole traffic management, when you’re in a prototype at least", added the Dane. "The GTs are managing it too; they’re getting overtaken all the time. But I think that’s an area that’s really interesting. In Formula 1 you start the race, and after the first lap mess is done, then you fall into a rhythm. And quite often you have that rhythm for the whole race."
"Whereas here, you’re always on it. Like mentally, you’re trying to judge how fast you’re approaching, if you can overtake here or wait for the next [corner], which way to go around and also using the GT traffic to either attack or defend from the other prototypes. That part I really like, and for a 24-hour race, or even two hours of 24 hour race in this type of racing is more intense in many ways than a Formula 1 race, and then we do 24 [hours]. So it’s pretty cool", Magnussen said.
Father and son Magnussen will start 25th on the grid, together with teammate Anders Fjordbach at the wheel of High Class' Oreca 07 Gibson.