Magnussen prepared to walk away from 'empty' F1

Kevin Magnussen is at peace with the idea of walking away from "empty" Formula 1, despite being an "active participant" in driver silly season. 

The Haas driver is one of a number of midfield drivers trying to secure a seat for 2025, with just six seats left available now Alpine and Aston Martin confirmed Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll, respectively on Thursday of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Both Haas seats are up for grabs, although RacingNews365 exclusively revealed earlier in the week that Ferrari protege Ollie Bearman is expected to be announced ahead of the British GP - with soon-to-be ex-Alpine driver Esteban Ocon tipped to join him. 

As a result, Magnussen's options are few and he has not been seriously linked with vacant drives as some of his rivals have been. 

Possibly facing the end of his grand prix career, Magnussen insists he is at peace with the idea of leaving - and pointed to the success of ex-Caterham and Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson, who won the 2022 Indy 500.

"I am an active participant in contention for a few of the seats and that is great," Magnussen told media including RacingNews365. 

"It is all very open at the moment, and there is a good chance for the established guys to end up in a seat anywhere.

"There has been potential here at times, but there has never been a podium here though or a season where it has just worked out. 

"There is almost like this unfulfilled potential that I think it would be quite fulfilling after so many years to be part of, but on the other hand, it has also been a long journey. 

"I've been in the midfield every year that I've been in F1 and I'm 31 years old and I'm starting to think that if I finished my motorsport career having just done F1 in the midfield, that would feel empty.

"I watch Le Mans or the Indy 500 and see some of the guys that win, they look bloody happy and I think there's a career outside of Formula 1. 

"I've been part of it a few times when I've not been in Formula 1, it is a great life and it is pulling a little bit."

At peace with not winning

After a strong rookie campaign in 2014, Magnussen was dumped by McLaren in favour of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button for '15, finding a seat at Renault for '16. 

However, this partnership only lasted one season before he joined Haas, where he has become the most experienced driver in the team's history. 

Magnussen left F1 once again at the end of 2020 as Haas opted for Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher, sitting out the '21 season, and moving to Peugeot in WEC. 

However, he re-joined Haas on the eve of the 2022 season following Mazepin's sacking after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and finished fifth on his return in the Bahrain season-opener. 

He claimed pole for the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - both his and the team's first - but results have been hard to come by, with only a single point on the board in '24 after 10 races - a 10th place in Australia. 

Despite not standing on the podium since his debut race back at the 2014 Australian GP - Magnussen insists he has been "super lucky and has no regrets."

"At the end of the day, even though I would have loved to have won many races in these 10 years, I didn't," he said.

"It has still been a very exciting, fun and wild journey with so many surprises, ups and downs and emotionally, a roller-coaster with being out of the sport, thinking I'd never be back to getting an opportunity. 

"If I go into detail for all the things that went right for me, I've been super, super lucky so I don't have any regrets. 

"I don't feel like I have achieved much in Formula 1, but if you look at it from another direction, the fact that I've been in the sport for so long is actually some kind of achievement.

"But there is a lot to be said about winning races - and I haven't done that for a long time. I've missed that."