Corvette driver and reigning ALMS GT champion Jan Magnussen had a longer day than most at the 12 Hours of Sebring – his was more like the 24 Hours of Sebring thanks to the Formula 1 debut of his son Kevin for McLaren in Australia.

Magnussen was up early on Saturday morning to be trackside for the 8:00am morning warm-up and 24 hours later he was finally drifting off to sleep.

Kevin Magnussen got the green flag at 2:00am Sebring time with Jan, friends, family and teammates watching from 9,685 miles away. Two hours and 57 laps later, the Magnussen family’s wildest dreams came true with Kevin scoring a podium finish on debut.

The post-race disqualification of Red Bull runner-up Daniel Ricciardo elevated Magnussen junior to second place – marking his Australian Grand Prix as one of the best Formula 1 debuts in history.

While Magnussen senior’s 12 Hours of Sebring didn’t go to plan with a fuel pump issue taking the No.3 Corvette out of contention, you couldn’t wipe the smile from the Danish ace’s face after his son’s performance.

“I tried not to have any expectations for Kevin’s debut for McLaren. I had a dream that this would happen … a podium would be out of this world,” wrote Magnussen in his column on Sportcar365.com.

“This was way more than anyone could have hoped for. When we first started driving karts with Kevin this was just some crazy dream. One day maybe he’d be in F1. To see him today on the podium was just unbelievable.

“I can’t even put it into words how I’m feeling. It’s fantastic and he just keeps surprising me. He was good immediately but what has been the most impressive is how he has developed and how he keeps getting better and keeps finding ways to improve.

“For the last couple of years he has been extremely fast. The biggest change is how he is using his head and making things happen.
Being 6,000 miles away watching the race wasn’t a lot of fun – I don’t want to do that too often. But it was good to share it here with friends, family and teammates.

“But I’m going to Malaysia that is for sure. I just don’t want to miss Kevin’s race again.”