After the announcement that Haas was looking for an experienced driver to replace the troubled Nikita Masebin, several names were circled. However, Kevin Magnusson’s name is not much on that list.
Dane left the team from Formula 1 in 2020 due to disappointing performance and Uralkali’s sponsorship ruble. Magnussen later joined the Cadillac IMSA DPI team and even did the IndyCar raid. He has thrived in both fields and the return to F1 seems unlikely.
New reluctance
During the year he left F1, Magnussen repeatedly stated that he did not want to return to a team that did not have the ability to win the race. He made fun of the new Haas VF-22 on social media. He compared the Russian-colored car at the time to none other than the Herbie.
Attractive deal
Even without Russian sponsorship money Jean Haas was able to offer the 29-year-old senior an attractive contract. KMag will return as a replacement for his replacement this season.
Welcome back, K-Mag!EKevinMagnussen Partner Shoemakermic In our 2022 driving line#Hassf1 pic.twitter.com/L4bz9TfMcR
– Haas F1 Team (@ HaasF1Team) March 9, 2022
With Mick Schumacher and undoubtedly sour Pietro Fittibaldi, Kevin takes part in the second winter test at the Bahrain Circuit. Until the transport plane arrives on time, of course.
The fact that the new Ground Effect rules have theoretically opened the playing field will no doubt contribute to Magnuson’s decision, but the salary will not be ineligible either. KMag has been contracted for several seasons.
Number 8
2022 will already be the eighth season for Magnuson. McLaren made his debut in 2014 alongside Jensen Button, the son of the grossly failed superstar John Magnuson. In his debut, he immediately took second place on a platform, following the discovery of the illegal fuel flow sensor on Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull ship.
With the arrival of Fernando Alonso, he was placed on the reserve bench, but after Fernando’s mysterious test crash, Magnussen remained in Melbourne early on. However, the McLaren-Honda – how could it be – does not really feel like driving a race.
In 2016, Magnussen switched to the new Renault team, but he was unable to rush down the Lotus that year. With two to ten results for his name, he switched to Haas the following season, scoring five points that season.
The highlight came in 2018: with ten to 10 results, Magnussen was able to finish ninth in the championship. Unfortunately, Haas lost that good form in 2019 and 2020, and the relationship between Dane and his team quickly fell apart. Like the door of Gunder Steiner. We are very keen to see if Magnussen can lift the team out of that deep tank this year.