Alright, perhaps Kevin Magnussen is not a rookie. Quite far from it, actually. After completing a Young Driver Test for McLaren in 2012, he has been a steady presence in the Formula 1 paddock from 2014 to 2020. Still, I wanted to write an introductory piece for Kevin, as we’ve had a lot of new Formula 1 fans join us in 2021. Fans who might not be familiar with the Danish driver, or who might only know him from Drive to Survive and from a handful of memes, whilst Kevin is arguably much more than that. And let’s be real here, ‘meet the veteran’ doesn’t have as nice of a ring to it.
Early career
Magnussen’s climb up to the pinnacle of motorsport is similar to that of many other drivers. He started in karting, before eventually stepping up to Formula Ford in 2008, where he took 11 victories from 15 races and won the championship. In 2009 he moved up to Formula Renault 2.0, where he finished runner-up to António Félix da Costa (now racing in Formula E) and finished seventh in the Euro Cup.
Kevin kept moving through the different racing classes at a steady pace, competing in the German Formula Three Championship in 2010, where he took home 3 victories and the best rookie title. After which he moved to the British Formula 3 Championship in 2011, where he achieved seven victories and finished as championship runner-up. He then made the Formula Renault 3.5 Series his home in 2012 and 2013, finishing 2012 as seventh in the standings whilst being crowned Champion of the series in 2013.
Formula 1
McLaren 2012-2015
After his Young Driver Test with McLaren in 2012, Kevin drove for McLaren in 2014. Here, he managed to qualify 4th for his very first race, before overtaking Lewis Hamilton in the early stages to finish third. This would be his first (and as of yet only) podium in Formula 1. Making him the first debutant since Hamilton to take a podium in his first Grand Prix and the second Danish Driver (after Father Jan) to take a points-scoring finish. Due to Ricciardo being disqualified due to fuel irregularities, Kevin was later promoted to second place.
In 2014 he recorded eleven more points-scoring finishes, before being replaced by Fernando Alonso in the 2015 season, staying on as a reserve driver instead. He made one appearance on the grid, taking the place of an injured Fernando Alonso at the season opening Australian Grand Prix. Unfortunately, his car broke down on the way to the grid, which just about summed up McLaren’s time with Honda.
In his book Alt Eller Intet (All Or Nothing) Kevin highlights how at the time a deal to drive with Force India, a chance to race in Super Formula in Japan and a move to Andretti Autosport in IndyCar were blocked by McLaren. Kevin later also received interest from Williams to replace Felipe Massa but was once more discouraged to take up this offer by McLaren. In the end, despite a 7/2 vote in his favour to keep him over Jenson Button, Kevin was released from McLaren at the end of the year.
Renault 2016
Kevin would eventually sign with Renault in 2016 as a late replacement for Pastor Maldonado, who was dropped due to sponsorship issues relating to his native Venezuela being subject to economic sanctions… Sound familiar?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the name, Maldonado is mainly known for the many crashes and incidents he caused, turning him into a bit of a meme. Perhaps the car hadn’t yet forgotten who used to drive it, as Kevin too had a string of incidents at the start of his season. Crashing after tyre failures, suffering punctures, colliding with other drivers, suffering from gearbox failures, and crashing at high speed on the exit of Raidillon at the Belgian GP.
Clearly, not quite what Kevin had been hoped for after a change in scenery, and it wasn’t just the on-track incidents and issues which grated him the wrong way. Kevin highlighted in his book how Cyril Abiteboul coined him ‘the future of Renault’, but quite early in the season started giving him the cold shoulder.
It wasn’t all bad, as he took home seven of the eight points Renault scored that season. With the highlight of the year being in Sochi taking advantage of the infamous first lap carnage to take home a P7 in what was just round 4 of the 2016 season. It’s not surprising, however, that when his contract came up for renewal, he elected to go with Haas for a 2-year deal rather than renew his contract with the French squad for another year.
Haas 2017-2020
Kevin joined Haas to replace Esteban Gutiérrez. With Haas being a relatively new team at the time, it isn’t a surprise that results were inconsistent. Whilst Magnussen and teammate Grosjean certainly managed to rake in some points, they equally were forced to deal with electrical problems, hydraulic failures, and an unfortunate incident where the team suspected a suspension failure but later found that Kevin’s car suffered a puncture and shouldn’t have had to retire after all. Kevin ended the season 14th in the championship with 19 points, 9 points short of teammate Grosjean.
2017 was also the year where Kevin Magnussen forced Nico Hülkenberg off track and forced him to retire. Nico later interrupted one of Kevin’s interviews, congratulating him on being “once again the most unsporting driver on the grid”, to which Kevin responded, “Suck my balls, mate”. Magnussen later disclosed in his book that he still doesn’t understand why Nico took that incident so seriously and chose to confront him in front of the press – and mentions that the two haven’t spoken since.
In 2018 Kevin didn’t mince his words either, as after clashing with Fernando Alonso he had some choice words to share about the Spanish driver, like “(he) thinks he’s God” and “I can’t wait for him to retire”. More controversy arrived in the form of then-Sauber driver Charles Leclerc calling Magnussen “stupid” over the radio after his attempt to pass the Haas at the Japanese Grand Prix resulted in contact. Kevin suggested that these incidents took place as a result of the fabricated ‘bad boy’ reputation he held thanks to the incident with Nico in the previous year.
2018 wasn’t all bad, however. As both the Haas team and Kevin found themselves in an upward trajectory from the previous season. Magnussen ended up taking home 56 points to finish 9th in the championship, 19 points ahead of teammate Romain Grosjean, regularly challenging his former team Renault.
2019 was nothing to write home about, as the Haas VF-19 proved uncompetitive and only worsened as the season went on. The lowest point for the two Haas drivers that season was most likely when they collided in Silverstone, and both suffered race-ending damage. In the end, Kevin earned himself 20 points to finish 16th in the championship, 12 points clear of Grosjean.
There is even less to say about 2020, as the Haas VF-20 was off the pace as well. The only highlight of the year was the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Magnussen found himself running 3rd after strategizing well early in the race. He eventually ended up dropping down the pack, but still managed to cross the finish line in 9th. He was later demoted to 10th after it emerged that Haas broke the rules by using the team radio in the opening lap, and this would be the only point he’d score all season.
Both Magnussen and Grosjean departed at the end of 2020 to be replaced by Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
Other ventures in 2021
Kevin Magnussen was offered a seat with Chip Ganassi Racing in IndyCar for 2021, but ended up not going through with it because he would have had to finance his seas and he wanted a ‘clean deal’ – he was also contacted to drive in Formula E, but said that it wasn’t the series for him.
Instead, he competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Chip Ganassi alongside Renger van der Zande, where Magnussen won a race at the Detroit Grand Prix and ended the season 7th. He also partook in the 24h of Le Mans alongside his father (Jan Magnussen) and Anders Fjordbach in the LMP2 class and replaced Felix Rosenqvist at the Grand Prix of Road America in IndyCar with Arrow McLaren SP.
Return to Formula 1
As many of you are aware, Haas broke ties with title sponsor Uralkali following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They simultaneously terminated the contract of their Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, unsurprising considering he only occupied his seat due to his father’s ownership of Uralkali and Uralchem. This left an open seat for Kevin Magnussen to slot into, a seat which was previously rumoured to go to reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi, but according to Guenter Steiner they never considered anyone but Kevin.
Kevin’s return to Formula 1 is exciting to many. As highlighted previously, Kevin doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind, which is a refreshing characteristic in a sport where the drivers tend to be well-polished and media trained.
I’m looking forward to Mick and Kevin as a pairing. With Kevin being a veteran driver (despite what the title of this article claims😉) he can help develop the car and take Mick under his wing. Haas isn’t the team to play favourites (despite what Nikita Mazepin might wish to imply), so it will be interesting to see which of the two drivers ends up winning the team battle.
Kevin also seems to get on well with the team, as the reunion video Haas posted was quite heart-warming. So hopefully that will improve the morale among the crew, which last year was quite low on Nikita’s side of the garage (if we have to believe Drive to Survive). If the pictures from Kevin with daughter Laura in the cockpit are anything to go by, things seem to be looking up (at least for the Haas social admins). Now, we just need to see whether Haas pausing the 2021 development to focus on 2022 is truly going to pay off.
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