Magnussen open to future IndyCar switch after F1

Kevin Magnussen is open to making a full-time switch to IndyCar after his Formula 1 career so he can fulfill a long-held dream of racing in the Indianapolis 500.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso made his Indy 500 debut last year as part of his bid to win the 'Triple Crown of Motorsport', leading to suggestions about other F1 drivers that could also enter, with the event ranking highly on Haas driver Magnussen's future career wish-list.

"I would love to do it. I would never put aside Formula 1 to do it, but I would love to do it," Magnussen told Crash.net.

"It’s one of those things that I dream about at night sometimes. It’s just something that really turns me on."

Magnussen added that he would want to prepare as much as possible for an Indy 500 entry by incorporating it into a full season of IndyCar, but stressed his long-term focus remained on F1.

"I wouldn’t do it at the same time as Formula 1. I wouldn’t like to do that," Magnussen said.

"It would require full focus, and I’d like to do more than just the Indy 500. I’d like to do a full season of IndyCar if I was going to do it I think. But whether I’ll get a chance to do that, I don’t know.

"If I race here for 15 years, then would you really want to go and do that after? Maybe. Maybe not."

MCLAREN BLOCKED 2015 ANDRETTI DEAL

Now entering his fourth full season in F1, Magnussen came close to securing an IndyCar seat back in 2015 after being dropped from McLaren's full-time line-up, only for the team to block the deal with Andretti Autosport.

"I went to Andretti in Indianapolis, I had talks with them, and I nearly had a go. It was very, very close," Magnussen said.

"But things didn’t turn out as I wanted with McLaren. I didn’t really have the support that I needed from them at the time. They supported me very well before that, but in that moment, they didn’t do a great job, I have to admit.

"So I ended up not driving at all and having a season completely out of driving, which was a catastrophe for me, and it would be for any racing driver. So it didn’t happen."

Magnussen spent one season in a reserve role at McLaren, making one grand prix start in Australia in place of the injured Alonso before returning to a full-time seat with Renault in 2016.

However, the Dane does not believe a move to IndyCar in 2015 would have marked the end of his F1 career and made it impossible to come back.

"I don't think so, not necessarily," Magnussen said.

"In some ways it would have been better for my career if I had had a season driving something and racing.

"I think I still would have had the opportunities that I had eventually."