Magnussen opens up about Haas podium 'dream'

Kevin Magnussen admits that he has been dreaming about achieving a podium with Haas in 2022, something that he thinks remains a realistic goal.

The Dane made a surprise return to the grid this season to replace Nikita Mazepin at the American outfit, with his comeback announced less than two weeks before the first race of the campaign.

Magnussen impressively scored points on his debut weekend back with the squad by claiming P5 in Bahrain, and since then has finished within the top 10 on a further two occasions.

As such, Magnussen is not ruling out the chance of reaching the podium at some stage in the year.

"It's certainly a dream," he told the Beyond The Grid podcast.

"I think about it quite a lot. We are in the fight to be the best team after the three big ones and, if you're that, then you're the seventh car on the grid if everything's normal, so it doesn't take that many cars to have problems to then get a podium.

"Sometimes, Mercedes looked – at least in the beginning of the season – [like] they're not going to be so far ahead of us, so it wouldn't take a lot of luck."

Podium a "realistic" possibility for Haas

Magnussen believes that Haas do not have the outright pace to claim a podium but, considering that 13 different drivers finished in the top three during 2021, he still thinks that the team could find their way there.

"I don't think we can drive on to the podium just by pure pace," the driver explained.

"But, last year we saw many teams get on the podium that weren't regular podium finishers. I think it's a realistic [possibility]. It's not fully unrealistic to dream about it.

"I don't think you can expect it, because we're not fast enough to get there just on pure pace, but I'm dreaming about it, and I'm putting my money on it!"

Magnussen has previously achieved one podium in his F1 career, which came during his first weekend in the sport at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix whilst driving for McLaren.