Kevin Magnussen has said that he has no regrets about returning to the Haas team, as he prepares to vacate his seat at the end of this season.
The Dane first joined the American outfit in 2017 from Renault, and competed the next four seasons with the team, before being dropped, along with Romain Grosjean, ahead of the 2021 campaign.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine would lead to the dismissal of Nikita Mazepin, team boss Günther Steiner called-up Magnussen, who had been competing in IMSA for Chip Ganassi, at the 11th hour and offered him back his seat for 2022 alongside Mick Schumacher.
Despite a sensational fifth place finish at the opening round in Bahrain, and a pole position for the Sprint Race in Brazil, Magnussen’s return has been fraught with difficulty, but in an interview with Autosport, he insists he feels no penitence about his F1 renaissance.
“No, no, no, honestly, I don’t… I don’t regret it,” he said.
“It’s been fun and it’s fun trying something so unexpected. It was a wild journey, because I really closed that chapter, completely, mentally closed it, had a kid and completely started that next phase of my life with my wife and my family.
“Then – boom – back again, and that… this whole experience has been really exciting for me and my family.”
Magnussen said he was under no illusions about returning to the sport and to the Haas team, and was prepared for any difficult moments that would come his, and the team’s, way.
“That’s to be expected when you step into Formula 1.
“I was already an experienced Formula 1 driver when I came back, I knew what I was going back to.
“Nothing was really a surprise, so I knew. I knew there would be bumps and, I also knew it wasn’t going to be just smooth sailing and I knew there would be a honeymoon phase and then it would kind of, you know… all this I had, I had it all kind of thought through. It’s all part of it.”
Magnussen announced at the weekend of the Hungarian Grand Prix that he would be leaving the team at the end of the year, and would be replaced by Esteban Ocon, with Oliver Bearman already announced as a replacement for the Sauber-bound Nico Hulkenberg.
And with teams completing their driver line-ups for next year, the 31-year-old is running out of options if he wishes to remain in F1, thus increasing speculation he will contest a different category in the future.
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