Kevin Magnussen will leave the Haas Formula 1 team at the end of the 2024 season, with Esteban Ocon expected to be his replacement.
Ocon’s arrival from Alpine alongside rookie Ferrari protege Ollie Bearman - whose 2025 deal was announced ahead of the British Grand Prix - will give Haas an all-new line-up. Magnussen’s current team-mate Nico Hulkenberg has already signed for the Sauber team that’s about to transform into Audi.
WHAT MAGNUSSEN AND HAAS GAVE EACH OTHER
Magnussen getting a second stint with Haas - having been brought back in 2022 after first being dropped at the end of 2020, following an initial four-season stint together - has turned this driver and team into an unlikely prolific F1 combination. Team principal Ayao Komatsu has even called him a “bedrock”.
Assuming he starts each of the remaining 12 grands prix this season, Magnussen will be seventh on the all-time list of races with the same team - his tally of 147 GPs for Haas behind only Lewis Hamilton/Mercedes, Michael Schumacher/Ferrari, Max Verstappen/Red Bull, Kimi Raikkonen/Ferrari, David Coulthard/McLaren and Fernando Alonso/Renault (including Alpine).
It is rarefied longevity with a single team, and that helps put Magnussen’s Haas legacy into context.
Magnussen has not been able to deliver on the potential shown right at the start of his F1 career when he took a podium for McLaren on his debut, and the fact he will not be retained by Haas even though team leader Hulkenberg is moving elsewhere is hardly a glowing reflection on his performances alongside the German this year and last.
But in driving for Haas in all but two of its F1 seasons to date, Magnussen has become synonymous with the underdog team’s highs and lows, and repeatedly provided major highlights for it.
Magnussen was key to Haas earning its best-ever championship finish of fifth in 2018, and helped revive the team’s fortunes after its 2021 nadir. Having been dropped for that season primarily because the team needed cash to stay afloat, Magnussen provided a significant boost when he stepped in at the last minute to replace the ousted Nikita Mazepin on the eve of the 2022 season.
Despite missing the first pre-season test, and not being F1-fit, Magnussen immediately landed a big result - finishing fifth on his comeback to lift spirits and prove the car's potential. There were highs and lows that season alongside Mick Schumacher but nothing greater than producing Haas’s day of days by topping qualifying at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.
WHY HE'S LOSING HIS SEAT AGAIN
Ultimately, Magnussen has been too hot and cold as a driver to really establish himself as one of the grid’s elite, which is why Haas is now dropping him for a second time.
His performance often depended on the opportunities available and the car's condition, showing brilliance when things aligned but sometimes struggling just as easily.
Some at Haas were concerned in 2022, looking past the highlights reel, that he was not the driver to consistently produce the kind of performances that would drive more success. That’s one of the reasons why Hulkenberg was brought in. And Magnussen has failed to match him.
Were more of his weekends as good as, say, this year’s Austrian Grand Prix, then Magnussen’s chances of being retained would have been much greater. He has been a good, effective, popular team player at Haas - the kind of person and driver the team would happily keep around if his performance level was that little bit higher.
Instead, all signs point to this being the end of Magnussen’s F1 career (again). That means losing an eye-catching, opinion-dividing driver, one of the championship’s hardest racers. Though he has crossed the line at times with such an approach, the F1 grid is all the better for having had plenty of Magnussen at his best.
WILL HAAS RELATIONSHIP CONTINUE?
And even though he has not been able to extend this second Haas stint further, the team has undoubtedly been better off for having given it to him.
Komatsu has even hinted this may not be the end of their working relationship.
“There’s plenty of racing to go this year so I’m looking forward to seeing what else we can achieve with Kevin as we push together in the championship,” he said.
“Beyond that, and with Kevin’s special relationship with the team, I’m hoping we can find a way to keep working together in some capacity.
“We can hopefully define that in the near future, but his extensive experience in Formula 1 and knowledge of our working operations are undoubtedly of value in our ongoing growth and development.”