Magnussen: Now I see everything in a new way

When Haas did not renew the contract with Kevin Magnussen at the end of 2020, he thought he had said goodbye to Formula 1 forever, but circumstances were such that the team had to turn to the Dane again, and presumably no one regrets it now.

After the first seven stages of the season, Kevin has 15 points and now he has a very different mood than before: “I don’t have the same mood as during my first period in Formula 1. I’m just very I’m calm about everything. Sure, things are different now.

I think it’s largely because I became a father. In my opinion this is the most important event in my life, the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me.

It can be said that I forgot about Formula 1 for a while. I was filled with happiness and joy in connection with this new experience, and I began to forget the past. I also had a great time in the US, kept racing, but when the opportunity arose to come back, I loved it!”

Now Kevin enjoys walking through the paddock with his daughter Laura on his shoulders or putting her in the cockpit of a Haas car. According to him, this has a positive influence on his work: “It is very nice that I can combine these two most important things in my life. Previously there was only Formula 1 in it and now I have become a father and before that these two things did not intersect in any way.

But now I know I can see them at the same time as I see Laura in this car. I always came home after racing, especially after a hard race, and I kept thinking about everything, I couldn’t get it out of my head. And now I can easily get out of Formula 1. I have a child waiting for me at home and my daughter naturally shifts all my attention to herself.

Magnussen will not return to Formula 1 for the first time, having made his championship debut in 2014 as part of McLaren, then ended up on the bench, but signed a contract with Renault in 2016 and moved to Haas in 2017 where he spent four years. spent full seasons. And now he is again working with the American team, signing a two-year contract with her.

“I don’t have any special expectations, I just love what I do and I’m interested to see what the future holds,” Kevin told The Race. – Of course I want to be world champion. Who doesn’t want this? I dreamed about this since childhood, but last year I had to part with the dream. It was not difficult to do this, because it was necessary to move on.

But I missed Formula 1, I missed these cars, the competition with the best racers in the world, the performance on the best tracks. This is the main thing I missed, and now that I’m back I see everything in a new way.

How many people manage to get into Formula 1? It is very difficult to achieve this. There are many more astronauts than Formula 1 racers and I managed to break through here, although I was never proud of it, did not appreciate what I have achieved. I didn’t feel that these were special achievements. But when I left the championship and looked at Formula 1 from the outside, I started thinking about a lot of things. And I realized she meant a lot more to me than I thought.

But if all this put too much pressure on me, I now have a more balanced attitude. I feel like I can drive more naturally and freely – precisely because I now perceive Formula 1 differently.