Kevin Magnussen has spoken out on how he is enjoying a comparably simple team environment at Haas to that he experienced with McLaren and Renault, likening it to the more humble surrounds of a Formula 3 team.
The Dane suffered a turbulent initial three seasons in his F1 career. Having lost his McLaren seat in 2015 to Fernando Alonso, he was memorably released from his reserve driver duties on his birthday. His Renault reprieve in 2016 would result in similar acrimony, with the team spending much of the season openly courting other drivers.
However, Magnussen now feels his nomadic days are behind him, saying “I feel very at home here, very happy. It’s nice to be in a team that’s very simple. Everyone here is here to go racing. There’s no BS or any commercial stuff. It’s very uncommercial, a real race team. It’s kind of going racing in Formula 1 with an F3 team.
“It’s very straightforward. You just go and speak to [Guenther Steiner]. They’re all there in the debriefing, they don’t have to speak to any sponsors or anything, they’re in the office with us – a part of everything. I really enjoy working as a team, as a whole, not just working with the engineers and mechanics. It’s really one team.
“I think it’s just that we don’t have to deal with people you don’t want to deal with. There’s no one here that I don’t really enjoy working with. You don’t have to do stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with racing, it’s all racing and none of the other stuff. It just gives you a different feeling.”
In addition to Magnussen’s stated affinity with the Anglo-American squad, the Dane also has the pleasure of remaining with the same team for two consecutive seasons for the first time in his career without being sidelined into a reserve role.
