Kevin Magnussen has revealed that he spoke to his father at the start of his Formula 1 project and declared that he did not wish for him to have a major say in his journey.
Jan Magnussen, who is still an active racing driver, once competed in F1 and made 24 Grand Prix starts for McLaren and Stewart in the 1990s.
The 50-year-old has enjoyed more success in sportscars in the following years, but also aided his son through his motorsport journey en route to F1.
Kevin Magnussen made his F1 debut in 2014 with McLaren before being demoted at the end of the season.
He subsequently switched to Renault in 2016 before shuffling to Haas a year later.
Their relationship differs greatly from that of the Verstappens, with Jos playing a major part in his son Max's F1 career.
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Magnussen's plea
Amid the ongoing unrest at Red Bull following Jos' public criticism of Team Principal Christian Horner, Magnussen revealed that he informed his own father that he did not want him involved in his career.
“Very early on in my career, I made it very clear to my dad that I didn't want his influence,” Magnussen told media including RacingNews365.
“He had to adjust to that but I was very, very clear that I wanted this to be my journey and my project.
“He had his own career so [I said] he should focus on that, and he's been super good with that.
“I feel like I’m my own [driver], I tried to learn from my dad as much as possible and it's been a real privilege to have him to really feed off, learn from and ask questions all the way through my life.
“When it comes to actually going racing and taking care of my own career, I didn't want his influence.
“I’ve had my own team of people that I haven't asked my dad about, I haven't picked his people or anything. I've just done my own thing and that’s worked well.”
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