Kevin Magnussen has had more than one ‘last’ Formula 1 race during his career. But the 32-year-old’s grand prix career finally appears to be at an end following his latest departure from Haas.
He ended his final season 15th in the standings with less than half the points of his team mate Nico Hulkenberg. Both drivers enjoyed more competitive seasons than last year, however, as Haas successfully tackled the tyre life problem which plagued its chassis during 2023.
Hulkenberg was regularly the quicker of the pair over a single flying lap, usually able to find the last few tenths of a second which makes such a huge difference in the midfield these days. On average Magnussen was around 0.16 seconds off, which often meant he failed to accompany his team mate into Q3 and started several places behind him.
This had other knock-on effects for Magnussen, particularly early in the season when the team snatched at every point available, having only scored 12 and finished last the year before. When Hulkenberg ran higher up the order at tracks like Jeddah and Miami, Magnussen was deployed to delay his pursuers, which the team decided was the best way he could contribute to their points-scoring on those occasions.
At times that brought Magnussen into conflict with other drivers, the upshot being he was involved in incidents which led to penalties. Those incidents plus others added up to the point that he became the first F1 driver to receive a one-race ban for collecting 12 endorsement points on his licence.
That plus an enforced absence from the Brazilian Grand Prix due to illness meant Magnussen’s final season was inevitably patchy. There were some positive moments from his later races, however, and he was taken out of contention for points in the season finale, where Haas strived in vain to beat Alpine to sixth in the standings, through not fault of his own due to a slow pit stop.
But while Magnussen final F1 season was not as poor as they numbers may indicate, nor did it make a convincing case to Haas that he deserved a 10th year at the top flight. While the team was disappointed to learn early in the season that they would lose Hulkenberg to Sauber, Magnussen’s deal was not renewed.
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The fireworks some predicted when Magnussen and Hulkenberg first teamed up at Haas last year failed to materialise. Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has assembled an all-new line-up for his second year in charge and some wonder whether Esteban Ocon, who has had a few run-is with past team mates, and promising rookie Oliver Bearman might test the team’s management rather more.
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Unrepresentative comparisons omitted. Negative value: Magnussen was faster; Positive value: Hulkenberg was faster
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