Featured Image Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Topics: Kevin Magnussen, McLaren, Motorsport, Formula 1, Haas F1 Team
Ben McCrum
Topics: Kevin Magnussen, McLaren, Motorsport, Formula 1, Haas F1 Team
In an exclusive interview with SPORTbible, ex-Formula One driver Kevin Magnussen has spoken out about the 'disaster' that saw McLaren sack him on his birthday.
Following the end of the 2024 season, Magnussen announced that he was leaving the Formula One grid for the second time time in his career.
The Danish driver had been a regular on the grid since making his debut for McLaren back in 2014, earning a seat in nine of the 11 seasons following the first and last years of his F1 career.
However, it hasn't exactly been an easy road for Magnussen as, despite impressing in his first year competing in the sport, he was brutally dropped by McLaren in an email sent to him on his birthday.
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And now, Magnussen has spoken out about the 'disastrous' exit, criticising the decision to drop him instead of his teammate at the time.
For the 2014 season, Magnussen stepped up to make his Formula One debut with McLaren, replacing Sergio Perez who left to join Force India/Racing Point.
Impressively, the Danish driver secured a podium on his debut, with a career best finish of second at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.
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Across the entire season, Magnussen secured a further eleven further points-scoring finishes and finished with total of 55 points in his single full season, securing 11th in the championship standings.
Despite this, McLaren decided to demote Magnussen to a reserve driver the following season to make way for two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, pairing him with 2009 champion Jenson Button.
"It was a disaster for me when it happened," Magnussen admitted to SPORTbible.
"I’d just made my way in Formula One with one of the biggest teams in the history of the sport and I had a great debut, good rookie season."
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Magnussen argued that McLaren should have instead considered keeping him instead of Button, adding: "I outpaced a world champion in Formula One in my first season.
"He scored more points than me, he was much better at managing tyres, avoiding penalties and staying out of trouble so he outfought me and finished ahead in the championship.
"But on paper, I was quicker than a world champion and I still lost out because another amazing driver, Alonso, came in.
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"It was a very unlucky situation for me, I had a terrible year in 2015 on the sidelines as a reserve driver for McLaren, I didn’t do any races and it was tough."
Thankfully, Magnussen's time on the sidelines was short-lived as he joined Renault for the 2016 season ahead of two spells with Haas from 2017–2020 and 2022–2024.
Across his entire F1 career, Magnussen competed in 185 races, with a total of 202 career points.
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But leaving Haas at the end of 2024 didn't mark the end of Magnussen's motorsports career, as the 33-year-old now races for BMW M Team WRT in the Hypercar series of the World Endurance Championship.
Magnussen drove alongside Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor in car #15 for most of the season, ultimately finishing 20th in the standings.
Ahead of the 2025 season finale in Bahrain, he spoke about the challenges of adapting to competing in a championship with races ranging from six to 24 hours and the differences to Formula One.
"In many ways it’s very similar but you’re sharing the car with other people so you don’t have all the resources available to just you and you can’t shape the strategy or the set up of the car," Magnussen revealed.
"You have to work as a group much more and I think that’s a really interesting thing. Psychologically going to the race is very different because you’re watching a race that you’re in from the garage and you become a part of the strategy team in a way.
"Then suddenly you’re in the car and you’re the racing driver in the same element as a F1 race!"