Jan Magnussen

Jan Magnussen has been described by Jackie Stewart as "the most promising youngster to come along since Ayrton Senna." He ended his karting days in 1991 with a hat-trick of world championships and moved to England to compete in the 1992 British FF1600 championship for Foundation Racing. Having become familiar with the car and the circuits, he won 7 races in the second half of the season, including the prestigious Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, and finished 3rd in the championship.

In 1993 after spells in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus and Opel Lotus European Championship, he made his F3 debut competing in two races for Paul Stewart Racing finishing 4th and 3rd. The next season, still with Paul Stewart Racing, he clinched the championship in the most dominant fashion ever achieved in the history of F3 racing by winning 14 out of 18 races - that season brought him the nickname of "Danish Dynamite."

In October 94, Magnussen drove the McLaren MP4/9 as a reward for his achievement and was subsequently signed as the team's test driver. Due to Hakkinen's appendicitis, Magnussen made his F1 debut at the '95 Japanese GP. He returns to the Stewart fold and to F1 in 1997 with the new Stewart Grand Prix team.