It is being reported that Kevin Magnussen is not interested in being a substitute for Haas F1 Team this year should the need arise. He stated that he doesn’t have “much interest” in the role.
Written By Ian Bruce, Edited By Issa Chaker
Fresh off an impressive debut performance for IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) team Chip Ganassi Racing at the Daytona 24 Hours and the recent announcement of his inclusion in Peugeot’s Hypercar programme, his diary is quite full.
Magnussen’s refusal isn’t because of resentment or anything towards the team, he is simply not interested. He stated “Guenther is a good friend, as are many people in the Haas F1 team, but any talk about racing, like a one-off race, I don’t have much interest in that”. He continued, “I like to be fully focussed on what I am doing and I miss winning. I’ve done seven years of F1, [so] doing one more race, I don’t think is that interesting”.
He did state that there would be one team that could pull him back into the fold, “If Mercedes came and asked me if I wanted to drive, I think everyone would look at that very seriously”.
It’s clear that the Dane wants to fight at the top end of any series he enters and a return to Haas, even in a substitute role, holds little interest to him. Haas already have a reserve driver in Pietro Fittipaldi, who stood in for the injured Romain Grosjean at the last two races of the 2020 season. I think this is a wise move by Magnussen, as a driver who dominated in his junior years to not want to return to a team that may still remain at the back of the grid. It will be very interesting to see how his IMSA career unfolds and how he fairs in Peugeot’s return to endurance racing in 2023, I hope we will see Kevin appearing on the top step of podiums again for years to come.