Follow Us
Kevin Magnussen is back with Haas this season after a year away, and he’s taking advantage of a VF-22 chassis that’s far more competitive than the team’s previous cars. Magnussen only scored one point in 2020, the year he left Haas at the end of the season. This time, he already has 15 in the bank. The Dane has returned on a free ticket, having spent a year in endurance racing in the United States and not knowing he’d be back in Formula One until only a few days before pre-season testing.
According to Gunther Steiner, Magnussen’s performance this year has taken care of whatever concerns the driver might have had throughout 2020 or even before until he and Romain Grosjean were notified their skills were no longer necessary, and they were replaced by rookies Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. “I think in his previous experience with us he lived with the fear of losing his place in Formula 1 but after actually coming out of that, that sort of fear is no longer there.” expressed Steiner.
Read more: Kevin Magnussen
“I don’t think he was immature before, but he has grown. He’s 29, still young and when he came back to the team at the beginning of this season we found him much more confident. So, in the words of a song, there goes the fear and there was also the boost for the driver that when Mazepin was ousted, it was Haas that went looking for Magnussen rather than the other way around.” said Steiner.
“There’s another aspect I think is not secondary. He didn’t look for a steering wheel but we called him. Obviously the very important result he got in the race of his return, in Bahrain (Magnussen finished fifth) also worked in his favor, he became a sort of hero and today he has his heart at peace. I see Kevin who communicates more, he is more confident in his interactions with the team, but as a driver he is the same as before.” Opined the Haas team principal.
Kevin Magnussen’s 15 points for Haas have taken them above Aston Martin and Williams in the Constructors’ Championship, and they are two points behind AlphaTauri, despite the fact that Schumacher is yet to score a point in the championship.
