Kevin Magnussen

Biography of F1 driver Kevin Magnussen

After leaving Haas at the end of 2020, Kevin Magnussen's F1 career seemed over and, like many others, he soon turned his hand to sports cars instead.

But with Russian sanctions turfing Nikita Mazepin out of the sport in February 2022, Haas quickly turned to their former driver as a late replacement. The change yielded the teams first pole in F1 at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

For 2023, Magnussen lines up on the grid to begin his eighth full season in Formula 1.

Here's everything you need to know about Kevin Magnussen.

Ex-F1 driver's son shows early promise

The offspring of 1990s F1 driver Jan Magnussen, Kevin initiated his karting journey in his homeland of Denmark. In 2008, he transitioned to single-seaters and asserted dominance by securing the Danish Formula Ford championship.

In 2009, advancing to Formula Renault 2.0 with Motopark Academy, Magnussen claimed the runner-up position in the Northern European Cup, trailing behind Antonio Felix da Costa, and concluded the Eurocup in seventh place.

Magnussen's trajectory soared, leading to his inclusion in McLaren's young driver program, mirroring his father's career, who competed for the Woking-based squad in the 1995 Pacific Grand Prix.

In 2010, he participated in German Formula 3 with Motopark, securing three victories en route to a third-place finish in the championship as the top rookie.

Transitioning to British Formula 3 with Carlin in 2011, Magnussen notched seven race wins, once again earning the top rookie title and placing second only to Felipe Nasr in the overall standings. Although he finished third in the Masters of Formula 3 race at Zandvoort, he crashed out of the Macau Grand Prix that year.

Remaining with Carlin in 2012, Magnussen competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 series alongside Will Stevens, clinching one victory and finishing seventh in the championship.

Staying in the series for 2013, Magnussen joined the esteemed DAMS squad and secured the title with five victories after a year-long tussle with Stoffel Vandoorne.

Graduating to F1 with McLaren

With Sergio Perez flattering to deceive at McLaren in 2013, the team elected to promote their long-time protege Magnussen to a race seat for 2014, and his debut race at Melbourne could hardly have gone better.

Qualifying fourth on the grid, Magnussen moved up to third after problems for Lewis Hamilton and stayed there until the end, later being bumped up to second following Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification.

However, that was as good as it got for Magnussen at McLaren, as the team would slip back into the midfield for the rest of the season, with the Dane ending the year 11th in the Drivers' Championship.

Worse was to come for Magnussen at the end of the year. With Fernando Alonso joining the team for 2015 and teammate Jenson Button electing to continue in F1, there was suddenly no room for Magnussen and he was demoted to a test driver role.

A pre-season injury for Alonso meant that Magnussen headed to the season opener as a race driver, but failed to take the start as the team suffered the first of many problems with its new Honda power unit.

Shunted onto the sidelines for the rest of the year, McLaren then ended their association with Magnussen altogether, and his F1 future looked in doubt before he was thrown a lifeline at Renault to replace Pastor Maldonado, whose sponsorship money had failed to materialise.

A lifeline at Renault before security at Haas

Derived from an underfunded and underdeveloped Lotus design, the Renault R.S.16 limited Magnussen's opportunities to shine in 2016. His most notable performance was a seventh-place finish at Sochi, outscoring teammate Jolyon Palmer.

In pursuit of greater career stability, Magnussen committed to a three-year contract with Haas for 2017, marking him as the first driver in F1's turbo-hybrid era to have experience with Mercedes, Honda, Renault, and Ferrari power units.

While achieving three points finishes in the initial eight races, he added two more later in the season, concluding the year in 14th place in the standings. However, his on-track aggressiveness was gaining attention, and he began to develop a reputation among fellow drivers.

During the Hungarian Grand Prix, Nico Hulkenberg criticized Magnussen as the "most unsporting driver" after an incident where the Dane forced the German off the track. Fernando Alonso also voiced concerns about Magnussen's driving style in 2017, alleging that he engaged in defensive weaving during the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Haas experience turns sour

Remaining with Haas for 2018, the American team's VF-18 was a vast improvement on its predecessor, enabling Magnussen and teammate Romain Grosjean to fight for regular points.

A brace of fifth places and nine other top-10 finishes saw Magnussen finish a solid ninth in the final standings with 56 points, five places and 19 points ahead of Grosjean.

However, Magnussen once again drew the ire of several drivers for his aggressive approach, with Alonso, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc among those to take exception to Magnussen's racecraft in 2018.

Magnussen and Grosjean continued together at Haas for a third season in 2019, but the VF-19 was not as competitive as its predecessor, and the pair were resigned to scrapping for occasional points in the lower reaches of the grid.

Nonetheless, Magnussen again outscored Grosjean, this time by 20 points to eight, but the two were notably involved in an embarrassing incident at Silverstone when they clashed on the opening lap, forcing both out of the race and precipitating an angry outburst from Team Principal Guenther Steiner.

Haas' decline continued into the pandemic-affected 2020 season, with Magnussen scoring only a single point all year long. With the team's financial situation worsening, Magnussen and Grosjean were moved aside at the end of the year in favour of the rookie duo of Mick Schumacher and the well-backed Nikita Mazepin.

An unexpected return to F1

After seemingly concluding his F1 career, Magnussen shifted his focus to sports cars in 2021. He piloted a Cadillac for Chip Ganassi in the American IMSA series and made a cameo appearance in IndyCar at Road America, substituting for the injured Felix Rosenqvist.

Heading into 2022, Magnussen intended to continue in IMSA with Ganassi and had also committed to Peugeot in the World Endurance Championship, marking the French company's return to the series. However, these plans were disrupted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, resulting in Mazepin losing his Haas seat due to subsequent sanctions.

In a swift turn of events, a few days after Mazepin's departure, it was revealed that Magnussen had terminated his sports car contracts and rejoined Haas on a 'multi-year' deal just in time for F1's second three-day pre-season test session in Bahrain.

While Haas had essentially focused on preparing for the new technical regulations in 2022, the VF-22 performed well in testing under the guidance of Magnussen and Schumacher.

The season began positively for Magnussen with three top-10 finishes in the first four races, marking Haas' first consecutive points since 2019. He later achieved a double points finish at the British and German Grands Prix.

A significant highlight of Magnussen's year occurred at the Brazilian GP, where he claimed pole position after George Russell's spin prompted a red flag in challenging conditions. As the rain intensified, Magnussen was confirmed as the pole sitter, becoming the second driver in F1 history to secure pole for a non-Ferrari team using a Ferrari engine.

His comeback season concluded with a 13th-place finish in the standings, accumulating 25 points. Magnussen's achievements did not go unnoticed, as he was awarded the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy.

Nico Hülkenberg as teammate and the 2024 season

After the 2022 season, Magnussen remained with Haas but acquired a new teammate. An old acquaintance, namely Nico Hülkenberg, joined the team. The two share a rich history and aren't particularly fond of each other due to previous incidents. Often, reference is made to Kevin's iconic statement to Nico, namely, ''suck my balls mate.''

Throughout the 2023 season, the teammates were evenly matched, but Nico Hülkenberg demonstrated considerable strength in qualifying. By the end of the season, the German had amassed three times as many points as the Dane. Unfortunately, the American team secured the last position in the Constructors' Championship with only twelve points.

How will the Dane perform in the 2024 season, and will Haas finish higher in the Constructors' Championship?