Kevin Magnussen

Forming one half of the Haas F1 Team’s ‘Comeback Kings’ driver line-up alongside Nico Hulkenberg for the 2023 F1 World Championship season, Kevin Magnussen gets another stay of execution  with the US team following his eleventh hour return in 2022.

A driver that has now twice returned to F1 after a year out - his first enforced sabbatical coming in 2015 and the second in 2021 - Magnussen is looking to build on the flashes of promise shown in 2022.

Son of ex-McLaren and Stewart F1 driver Jan, Kevin Magnussen traced his father’s footsteps through the junior ranks with success at domestic F3 level, including a runners-up spot in the 2011 British F3 Championship.

However, it was Magnussen’s runaway charge to the 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 Championship title that earned him his F1 chance with McLaren.

He scored a podium on his F1 debut, but is yet to return to the rostrum.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-22, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

2022 - Haas F1 Team

13th - 25 points

With little interest from rival teams set to leave on the sidelines again for 2021, Magnussen’s hopes of a return to F1 appeared over ahead of the 2022 F1 season.

However, when Haas dropped Nikita Mazepin from its driver line-up a week before the start of the testing - due to sanctions levied on Uralkali, Mazepin and the team’s primary backer - in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Magnussen received an eleventh hour call up.

Rejoining the team one day before pre-season testing got underway, Magnussen shone in the well-judged and competitive VF-22 early on.

Announcing his return with a superb run to fifth in the Bahrain opener, Magnussen scored in three of the opening four races. The results tailed off as the season progressed though, as Haas’ rivals caught it in the development race.

His season, and arguably career, highlight came at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, when he scored both his and the Haas team’s first pole position. He’d go on to finish eight in the sprint race, followed by a race-ending first-lap collision in the main event.

Despite this he was still able to out-score team-mate Mick Schumacher, earning him another season in the team for 2023.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-20

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

2020 - Haas F1 Team

20th - 1 point

Haas’ slide down the order continued in 2020, the team suffering in parallel with engine partners Ferrari after it was forced to make changes to its power unit in response to a breach in regulation.

Breaking into the points just once all year, Magnussen ended the season with a single point to his name, achieved in Hungary. It led to him being axed by the team at the end of the 2020 F1 season, leaving him without a seat for 2021.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-19

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

2019 - Haas F1 Team

16th - 20 points

Despite showing strong form in pre-season testing, the Haas VF-19 struggled with various issues over the course of the season as the American team went the wrong way on development.

As such, other than a sixth place finish in Bahrain, points are hard to come by for the Dane, with just four top ten results to his name come the season’s end.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-18

Photo by: Sutton Images

2018 - Haas F1 Team

9th - 56 points

With Haas leveraging its relationship with Ferrari - from whom it sourced various components - more effectively in 2018, Magnussen benefited from a significant step in competitiveness from the VF-18.

Though a top four finish in the Australian opener was scuppered by a pit-stop issue, Magnussen became a regular scorer over the course of the year.

He equalled Haas’ best result of fifth place in Bahrain and then again in Austria, with 11 trips to the top ten earning him career-best ninth in the overall standings.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-17

Photo by: Sutton Images

2017 - Haas F1 Team

14th - 19 points

Magnussen joined Haas for its second season in F1 and enjoyed positive results initially, including a run to eighth during the second round in China and a tenth place on the streets of Monaco.

A best finish of seventh followed in Azerbaijan - having run as high as third at one stage - helping him towards 14th in the overall standings.

Kevin Magnussen, Renault Sport F1 Team RS16

Photo by: XPB Images

2016 - Renault Sport F1 Team

16th - 7 points

With no available seats on the 2016 F1 grid, Magnussen was close to penning a deal to race with Porsche in the World Endurance Championship before he received a late call-up to replace Pastor Maldonado at Renault after he was dropped over a contract dispute.

Renault’s first season back in the series as a fully-fledged manufacturer following its takeover of Lotus, the late deal meant the R.S.16 - developed from a Mercedes-engined Lotus’ prototype - struggled for form all year.

With the team rooted in the bottom quarter throughout, Magnussen could only break into the points twice - a seventh place in Sochi and a tenth place in Singapore.

Kevin Magnussen, McLaren, sprays Champagne on the podium

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

2014 - McLaren Mercedes

11th - 55 points

Already a member of the McLaren Young Driver programme, Magnussen was selected over Sergio Perez to herald a new era for both the team and the sport in anticipation of the V6 Hybrid era.

Following a modest 2013 campaign for the team, Magnussen was front and centre of McLaren’s scintillating start to the season with his run to third place, which was later upgraded to second when Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified ahead.

However, the result - made possible primarily by its Mercedes V6 Hybrid power unit, by far the fastest and most reliable option at the time - flattered to deceive and Magnussen failed to get close to the top three again over the season, cracking the top five just once more in Russia.

Pitched into direct competition with Jenson Button for the 2015 McLaren F1 drive following Fernando Alonso’s surprise appointment, Magnussen lost out and instead reverted to a test driver role for 2015.

He went on to make one more appearance for McLaren in 2015, at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in place of the injured Alonso, but amid dire reliability issues with the car’s new Honda V6 Hybrid power unit, a pre-race failure prevented him from starting.