Kevin Magnussen has been ruled out of the 24 Hours of Daytona as he recovers from minor hand surgery.
The Haas driver had been set to race in Daytona at the end of January but doubts arose over his participation following the announcement that he required surgery on his left wrist.
Magnussen successfully had a cyst removed and despite recovering well, has been advised not to race at Daytona in order to be fully fit for the Formula 1 season.
“I’ve been advised by the doctors not to drive the race next week,” the Dane said in a statement. “The surgery went well, but I need to rest as much as possible before we begin preparing for the F1 season.”
The Formula 1 season gets underway on March 5 with the pre-season testing in Bahrain beginning on February 23. Magnussen has more time to prepare this year having been dropped in at short notice in 2022 following Nikita Mazepin’s sacking.
The Daytona race, which he was due to compete for MDK Motorsports, would have been the 30-year-old’s second endurance event in just two months having raced with his father Jan in the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi in December.
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Magnussen Senior would have been again his son’s team-mate at Daytona and Kevin was unhappy to miss out.
“It’s a shame,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to that fantastic race and to get a new chance to drive with my father and MDK Motorsports. I’m wishing the team a great weekend at Daytona.”
At the time of his surgery announcement, Haas said they had been kept fully up-to-date on their driver’s health.
“Kevin Magnussen has kept MoneyGram Haas F1 Team fully briefed on his requirement for minor hand surgery,” the team said.
“The team is looking forward to Kevin being at full strength for his pre-season testing commitments starting next month.”
Haas are one of just two teams yet to announce the launch date for their 2023 car alongside Alfa Romeo and Magnussen will have a new team-mate for the 2023 campaign.
But despite telling his new team-mate to “suck my b****” in the past, Magnussen insisted he has no “beef” with Nico Hulkenberg.
“We’ve never been close, in the past or anything,” Magnussen recalled. “But in Bahrain, we met in the airport and kind of caught up for the first time.
“A lot of people think we have some beef going on, but we really don’t.”
