With his contract with Moneygram Haas F1 team set to expire at the end of the year, Kevin Magnussen finds himself in a position as a free agent for 2025. In his media session before the Austrian Grand Prix, he shared his thoughts on his career, and his outlook on life beyond Formula 1.
When asked about his current status and involvement in the F1 driver market, Magnussen expressed his active participation in the ongoing discussions.
“I am an active participant. I’m in contention for a few of the seats. I think that’s great. It’s all very open at the moment. I think there’s good chances for the established guys to end up in a seat anyway.”
Reflecting on his time with Haas, Magnussen acknowledged the team’s potential despite the lack of consistent success.
He’s also been pleased with his best performances this season, such as Imola.
“From my perspective, I feel like there is a lot of potential in this team. It feels like there’s always been potential showing at times. The highs have been very high. You look back to some of the races we’ve done, some of the good races.”
“If you take the best races in any year, it’s been fairly good,” he remarked.
However, he also noted the absence of a podium finish and the challenge of achieving consistency. Haas has regularly struggled with pace and tyre deg in both his spells with the squad.
“There’s never been a podium here though. There’s never been that season where it’s all worked out and consistency has been good. It feels like there’s potential. You see the talent in the team. Almost like some unfulfilled potential. I would think it would be quite fulfilling after so many years here to be part of that.”
Magnussen, now 31 years old, also shared his thoughts on his overall career in Formula 1 and the possible shift to other motorsport opportunities. Unfortunately for the Dane, he’s only had one podium in his career, on debut at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix for McLaren.
“On the other hand, it’s also been a long journey. I’ve been in the midfield pretty much every year that I’ve been in Formula 1. I’m 31 years old. I’m starting to also think that if I finish my motorsport career having just done F1 in the midfield, that kind of feels maybe empty in some way also,” he explained.
The Danish athlete expressed his admiration for other motorsport events as well.
“I watch some of those races, Le Mans, Indy 500. I see the guys that win that. They look bloody happy. Luckily, there’s a great outside to Formula 1 also. I’ve been part of it a few times when I wasn’t in Formula 1. It’s a great life.”
Regarding the pressures of staying in Formula 1, Magnussen mentioned the personal sacrifices involved, particularly as a family man.
“There’s a big cost of being in Formula 1 and sometimes I question whether it’s worth it because it’s 24 races. Being a family man, it’s a high cost. It’s not just those 24 races. It’s a lot of stuff as well. It just fills your year 100% and it’s not easy to do anything else. I’m passionate about a lot of things, especially in motorsport, of course, but also outside of motorsport,” he revealed.
Despite the challenges and the absence of major victories, Magnussen remains grateful for his journey in Formula 1. Dropped by McLaren after a season, he spent a year at Renault and eventually moved on to Haas for two spells.
“I think at the end of the day, even though I would have loved to have won many races in those 10 years, I didn’t. It’s still been a very, very exciting and fun journey, like a wild journey. There’s been so many surprises and ups and downs,” he said.
Magnussen reflected on his unexpected return to the sport in 2022 and the luck that played a part in his career.
“It’s just been emotionally a very, very wild rollercoaster from being out of the sport, thinking never to get back again and then getting an opportunity.
“If I go into detail of all the things that went right for me to come back in those times, I’ve been super, super lucky. So I don’t feel like I have any regrets.”
Haas driver summed up his feelings about his career and future aspirations.
“I feel like I have a lot more. I don’t feel like I’ve achieved much in Formula 1, but then I look at it from another direction.
“And just the fact that I’ve been in the sport for so long is actually also some kind of achievement. I just think there’s a lot to be said about winning races, and I haven’t done that in a long time. I miss that,” he concluded.
