The Most Famous
RACING DRIVERS from Denmark
This page contains a list of the greatest Danish Racing Drivers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,080 Racing Drivers, 8 of which were born in Denmark. This makes Denmark the birth place of the 21st most number of Racing Drivers behind Canada, and Mexico.
Top 8
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Danish Racing Drivers of all time. This list of famous Danish Racing Drivers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Jan Magnussen (b. 1973)
With an HPI of 55.60, Jan Magnussen is the most famous Danish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages on wikipedia.
Jan Ellegaard Magnussen (born 4 July 1973) is a Danish professional racing driver and was a factory driver for General Motors until the end of the 2020 season. He has competed in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA Formula One World Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
2. Tom Belsø (1942 - 2020)
With an HPI of 54.16, Tom Belsø is the 2nd most famous Danish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.
Tom Belsø (27 August 1942 – 12 January 2020) was a motor racing driver, credited as the first Formula One driver from Denmark.
3. Tom Kristensen (b. 1967)
With an HPI of 52.38, Tom Kristensen is the 3rd most famous Danish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.
Tom Kristensen (born 7 July 1967) is a Danish former racing driver. He holds the record for the most wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with nine, six of which were consecutive (from 2000 to 2005). In 1997, he won the race with the Joest Racing team, driving a Tom Walkinshaw Racing-designed and Porsche-powered WSC95, after being a late inclusion in the team following Davy Jones' accident that eventually ruled him out of the race. All of his subsequent wins came driving an Audi prototype, except in 2003, when he drove a Bentley prototype. In both 1999 and 2007 Kristensen's team crashed out of comfortable leads in the closing hours of the race. He is considered by many to be the greatest driver ever to have raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Elsewhere, Kristensen holds the record for most wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring with a total of six. In August 2014, Kristensen was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog by the Queen of Denmark. In January 2018, he was inducted into the Danish Sports Hall of Fame.
4. Kevin Magnussen (b. 1992)
With an HPI of 51.94, Kevin Magnussen is the 4th most famous Danish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.
Kevin Jan Magnussen (Danish pronunciation: [ˈkʰɛ.ven ˈjan ˈmaw.nus.n]; born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver, who is contracted to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship for WRT and the IMSA SportsCar Championship for RLL as a factory driver for BMW. Magnussen competed in Formula One from 2014 to 2024. Born and raised in Roskilde, Magnussen is the son of four-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class-winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Graduating from karting to junior formulae in 2008, Magnussen won his first championship at the 2008 Danish Formula Ford Championship. He then finished as runner-up to António Félix da Costa at the Formula Renault NEC in 2009, and to Felipe Nasr at the British Formula 3 International Series in 2011. Progressing to Formula Renault 3.5 in 2012, Magnussen won the championship the following season with DAMS. A member of the McLaren Young Driver Programme since 2010, Magnussen signed with McLaren in 2014 to partner Jenson Button. He finished second on his Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix, scoring his maiden podium finish and becoming the highest-finishing debutant since Jacques Villeneuve in 1996. Replaced by Fernando Alonso for 2015, Magnussen continued at McLaren as a reserve driver, substituting for Alonso at the season-opener. Magnussen completed a stint at Renault in 2016, before competing with Haas from 2017 until the conclusion of the 2020 season, finishing a career-best ninth in the 2018 World Drivers' Championship. In 2021, Magnussen moved to the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Cadillac, winning the Detroit Classic; he also contested one round of the IndyCar Series with Arrow McLaren, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans with High Class. Magnussen returned to Haas in 2022 to replace Nikita Mazepin, achieving his maiden pole position at the São Paulo Grand Prix. He retained his seat in 2023 and 2024, becoming the first driver since former teammate Romain Grosjean in 2012 to receive a race ban after the latter Italian Grand Prix, before departing at the end of the season. Magnussen achieved one pole position, three fastest laps and one podium finish in Formula One. He holds the Formula One record for the most career starts without leading a lap (185). Magnussen is set to move back to sportscar racing in 2025, joining BMW as a factory driver.
5. Jac Nellemann (b. 1944)
With an HPI of 50.43, Jac Nellemann is the 5th most famous Danish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Jacob "Jac" Nellemann (born 19 April 1944) is a former racing driver from Denmark. Reaching Formula One in 1976, his single entry was at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix, driving Brabhams run by the small RAM team. Despite taking part in qualifying sessions in two cars, a BT42 and a BT44B, he failed to qualify. He was on the entry list for the following year's race, but he was not present for qualifying.
6. Nicolas Kiesa (b. 1978)
With an HPI of 47.97, Nicolas Kiesa is the 6th most famous Danish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.
Nicolas Kiesa (born 3 March 1978) is a Danish former racing driver of Italian descent. He participated in five Formula One Grands Prix in the 2003 season, scoring no championship points. Previously, he had won the 2003 Formula 3000 race at Monaco, when Björn Wirdheim slowed on the last lap on the front straight to greet his team. He returned to Formula One in 2005, replacing Robert Doornbos as Jordan's third driver for the German Grand Prix and for the rest of the season.
7. Allan Simonsen (1978 - 2013)
With an HPI of 44.92, Allan Simonsen is the 7th most famous Danish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Allan Weel Simonsen (5 July 1978 – 22 June 2013) was a Danish racing driver, born in Odense. He died after a crash during the third lap of the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
8. Frederik Vesti (b. 2002)
With an HPI of 36.93, Frederik Vesti is the 8th most famous Danish Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Frederik Vesti Stamm (Danish pronunciation: [fʁεðʁεɡ̊ ˈvεsti]; born 13 January 2002) is a Danish racing driver, who is contracted to compete in the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship for Cadillac Whelen and serves as a reserve driver in Formula One for Mercedes. Vesti was the 2023 Formula 2 runner-up, driving for Prema Racing. He was the inaugural champion of the Formula Regional European Championship and a FIA Formula 3 race winner where he came fourth in 2020 and 2021. He currently holds the record for the most wins (4) and the most points scored (284.5) in Formula 3.
People
Pantheon has 8 people classified as Danish racing drivers born between 1942 and 2002. Of these 8, 6 (75.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Danish racing drivers include Jan Magnussen, Tom Kristensen, and Kevin Magnussen. The most famous deceased Danish racing drivers include Tom Belsø, and Allan Simonsen. As of April 2024, 1 new Danish racing drivers have been added to Pantheon including Frederik Vesti.
Living Danish Racing Drivers
Go to all Rankings
Jan Magnussen
1973 - Present
HPI: 55.60
Tom Kristensen
1967 - Present
HPI: 52.38
Kevin Magnussen
1992 - Present
HPI: 51.94
Jac Nellemann
1944 - Present
HPI: 50.43
Nicolas Kiesa
1978 - Present
HPI: 47.97
Frederik Vesti
2002 - Present
HPI: 36.93
