24 Hours of Daytona 2025: Who are the former F1 drivers at the start?

There will be fourteen former Formula 1 paddock residents at the start of the 24 2025 Hours of Daytona. From Romain Grosjean to Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen, here is an overview of the participants.

Published 21/01/2025 à 15:40

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24 Hours of Daytona 2025: Who are the former F1 drivers at the start?

A Grand Prix. Jack Aitken's passage in Formula 1 is an anecdote and many have already forgotten his work with Williams in 2020 at the Sakhir Grand Prix, but that is enough for the Briton (Cadillac n°31) to enter the category of former Formula 1 drivers. There will be a total of 14 on the starting grid for the 24 Hours of Daytona on Saturday at 19:40 p.m.

Among them, ten will be entered in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), the top category of the event. Felipe Nasr (Porsche No. 7) will defend its title with the Stuttgart manufacturer, who is chasing a twentieth success at DaytonaFacing them are their compatriots from BMW with the expected presence of a young retiree from the F1 paddocks: Kevin Magnussen (BMW n°24).

Three former Haas drivers on the grid

The Dane will cross swords with his former teammate at Haas Roamin Grosjean (Lamborghini n°63). While he has just been announced as Prema's reserve driver in Indycar, the Frenchman begins his season alongside the former hopeful Red Bull, Daniil Kvyat (Lamborghini n°63).

Besides Jack Aitken in the #31, Cadillac is entering Brendon Hartley and Will Stevens in his No. 10 and the Japanese Kamui Kobayashi in the #40. It is also worth noting the presence of Frederik Vesti and Felipe Drugovich in the #41, two great regulars in the F1 paddocks, who have chained together free practice sessions in recent years. The first mentioned was the reserve driver of Mercedes Last year, a role that Felipe Drugovich also occupied at Aston Martin since its title in F2 in 2022.

JDC Miller's Porsche No. 85 will be in the hands of, among others, Gianmaria Bruni, 18 F1 starts in 2004 with Minardi, and Pascal Wehrlein, recently crowned champion of Formula E and moved to Manor and Sauber. To find the driver with the best track record in F1, however, you have to move to the LMP2 category.

Felipe Massa headlines

This is where we find Felipe Massa, who will take the wheel of Riley's #74 Oreca, with whom he took third place in his category last year, just ahead of his compatriot Pietro Fittipaldi (Inter Europol #52). The Brazilian, replacing Romain Grosjean at Haas for two races at the end of 2020, is racing this year with the #73 Pratt Miller Motorsports.

Both victims of an abandonment in 2024, Sébastien Bourdais and Paul di Resta will definitely want to have a better day in Florida. The Frenchman was with Cadillac in GTP last year, but it is with Tower Motorsports that he returns this year, in the LMP2 category. Paul di Resta, whose 59th and last appearance in F1 dates back to a stint for Williams in Hungary in 2017 (retirement), remains with United Autosports.