Kevin Magnussen was signed by Haas for the 2022 season 8 days before the season opener in Bahrain after Nikita Mazepin had his contract terminated, but what happened during 2021 for Magnussen and what led him back to Haas for this year.
Kevin Magnussen raced with the American team Haas from 2017 until the end of the 2020 season and was dropped along with teammate Romain Grosjean to make way for German talent Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. Nikita's father Dimitry Mazepin sponsored Haas with his company 'Uralkali' which covered the 2021 Haas in Russian colours.
As he was dropped by Haas, Magnussen was unable to find a seat in F1 for the 2021 season but did continue racing. Magnussen competed in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and competed with Chip Ganassi Racing alongside Dutch driver Renger van der Zande. Magnussen had success in the championship as on the 12 of June, Magnussen won his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race. Magnussen completed the season having won 1 race, 5 podiums and 2 pole positions which achieved the Dane 7th place in the drivers championship whilst his teammate finished 4th.
However, this was not the only racing Magnussen did in the 2021 season as he announced he would be racing for High Class Racing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in an LMP2 car alongside his father Jan Magnussen and Andreas Fjordbach in the number 49 car. Magnussen and his team concluded the race in 29th place in the overall standings and finished 17th in the LMP2 class.
Magnussen's racing in 2021 did not stop there as in june 2021, Kevin was called in by Arrow Mclaren SP in Indy Car to replace the injured Felix Rosenquist at the Grand Prix of Road America. Magnussen qualified 21st for the race but unfortunately suffered a mechanical issue in the race and he was forced to retire from the race.
After Mazepin's contract was terminated earlier this year, Haas looked for a replacement for the empty seat. A few familiar drivers were named like Hulkeneberg and Giovinazzi but Haas ended up turning to their former driver Kevin Magnussen. Magnussen signed a multi-year deal with his former team and has finished an impressive P5 and P9 in the opening to 2 races which is the dream start for Haas.
Do you think Haas made the correct decision to re-sign Magnussen?
Photo credit: @f1sutton