Life is a bizarre factor. You set targets. You’re employed. You intend. However one thing fully random can change its course so dramatically that you simply simply know: if that one thing hadn’t occurred, it might all be totally different. An airline algorithm may put you within the seat subsequent to your future enterprise companion. You may step on somebody’s shoe in a bar, strike up a friendship and – bam – earlier than you realize it, you are working as a lifeguard in Australia.
Or a Danish millionaire may like your handshake and – bam – 5 years later, you are an F1 driver.
You’d suppose Kevin Magnussen’s path was set. There was no means the son of Denmark’s greatest motorsport star may escape being a racer, proper? However when he switched from go-karts to vehicles, his father Jan ran out of cash to finance his profession – and it was rescued by a fellow referred to as Karsten Ree, one in all Denmark’s richest males, who occurred to sponsor Magnussen Sr.’s group within the nation’s touring automobile championship.
“I do know for a proven fact that I gave him a very good handshake after I met him,” laughs Kevin as we sit down with him exterior the Haas hospitality space forward of his remaining race in F1 to look again on his profession. “I shook his hand, appeared him within the eye and apparently offered myself in a great way! He instructed my dad about it later. You already know, ‘This child’s obtained one thing’. And he was like, ‘Ah! I wish to assist him’.
“When it comes to outcomes, there wasn’t a lot benefit. I would executed effectively in karting, I would gained the Danish Formulation Ford. However you realize, it wasn’t sufficient for him to go in and put all the cash in. And I believed I am glad I gave him that good a handshake!
“Then one other investor got here in – and that was within the British Formulation 3 season. The primary couple of races did not go so effectively, however he had made this huge dedication and he needed to see outcomes. So he referred to as me into his workplace and stated, ‘Look, I have to see one thing’. And I simply obtained – I do not know – actually irritated. I stated ‘OK, you realize what, come to the subsequent race and I will win two races’. So cocky! And after I left I used to be like, ‘Shit! Fuck, man. What did I simply say to that man…’ – due to course he stated, ‘Yeah. Good. I will come. I will go see it.’
“And he went there. And I gained two races! And, you realize, had I not gained these two races, I’ve a sense he won’t have been so passionate about this venture!”
Carlin’s Kevin Magnussen profitable at Snetterton in British F3
There’s a parallel universe wherein Kevin Magnussen, the son of a former McLaren and Stewart F1 driver, is a welder within the small city of Roskilde. When his dad may not afford to pay for Kev’s racing, his uncle obtained him a job at a neighborhood manufacturing unit “since you by no means understand how this motorsport factor goes to prove” – and he spent three months there welding issues collectively.
“The factor is, it is not even a parallel universe,” he grins. “It is this universe. You already know, I used to be in a workshop with instruments in my hand, working as a welder. I had that. Not for very lengthy, thank God, however that actuality shouldn’t be very removed from me. And it is form of, in a means, a part of my identification. An enormous a part of me feels misplaced right here. I am a Formulation 1 driver? Lots of people know who I’m? It nonetheless feels… not actual.”
He is executed effectively. Ten years within the sport, 185 races, greater than 200 factors, a pole and a podium. It’s a profession that many could be jealous of. However is there something that might dramatically change its course and make the statistics look extra spectacular?
Take Lewis Hamilton, for instance. It would not take a lot creativeness to see him as an eight-time world champion – that is straightforward. However what if, within the closing laps of the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, the rain had slowed simply sufficient for Timo Glock to seek out sufficient grip to speed up out of the ultimate nook of the championship? Had Hamilton not gained his first title then, would he have moved to Mercedes? There may be arguably a parallel universe the place Lewis is not a champion in any respect. However is there one the place Kevin Magnussen is?
“Properly, you realize, I got here into F1 with a group that, on the time, you’d suppose I used to be simply copying Lewis,” he says. “Even after the primary race of the season I believed, ‘Yeah, I am following Lewis right here’. Once I left Australia, I appeared on the drivers’ standings on the aircraft, only for enjoyable. Clearly it was only one race. However I used to be P2 within the championship and I believed, ‘OK, the battle is on, within the first yr’. I actually thought that.
Kevin Magnussen racing to second place for McLaren within the 2014 Australian Grand Prix
Picture by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Photos
“However it turned out to be an outlier race by way of efficiency, and the remainder of the season, and the numerous, a few years after that… it took McLaren ten years to get again to the shape that they had in 2012. And I hit it proper firstly of that downward development. And if I had come two or three years earlier, it might have been a unique story.
“I believe I used to be additionally unfortunate to lose my seat on the finish of that yr. You already know, I had been faster than Jenson [Button], on tempo. He’d outscored me by far within the races. However it was fairly clear what I needed to change. I simply needed to end the races, you realize, simply settle down a bit. It was not like I wanted to do issues higher. I wanted to carry again a bit of – after which I believe it might have been a very totally different efficiency by way of consistency and so forth.
“I believe I used to be unfortunate to lose that seat that yr, and that form of modified my trajectory and my profession loop.”
After the McLaren board determined Button could be the one to companion Fernando Alonso into a brand new and – because it appeared on the time – thrilling period with Honda, Magnussen was despatched to sit down on a substitute bench. He moved again to Denmark and spent a yr travelling to races with McLaren as a reserve driver, all whereas battling melancholy and desperately wanting to come back again. He ultimately did with Renault – however the momentum was misplaced.
“I nonetheless believed in it,” he says, when requested if the considered profitable the world championship had gone out of his head by then. “What I needed to do was present that I used to be adequate to go along with an enormous group. And I believe Haas was an incredible place to do this. I ended up coming again to F1 with Renault, however just for one yr – and that was poisonous. I may have continued. Although they denied providing me a contract – I can present you the contract they provided me. However the entire thing was poisonous there, so I used to be glad to get the prospect to go to Haas and discover that stability and that assist.
Kevin Magnussen on the grid for Renault
Picture by: Mark Sutton
“It was my third yr in F1. I used to be 24 or one thing… 23? You already know, something was nonetheless doable. I nonetheless believed it was doable. And there have been moments after I felt it was stepping into that path.
“In 2018, we had a very good automobile within the first half of the yr. Charles [Leclerc] had simply arrived in F1 with Sauber. And he… the beginning of his first season wasn’t nice. And mine was actually good! After which instantly Ferrari was reaching out. You already know, instantly I used to be driving of their simulator, not for Haas, however for Ferrari. They had been sniffing round. And I believed, okay… I used to be already getting enthusiastic about the place this was going.
“However then Charles began to essentially kill it! And I heard nothing.
“I do not understand how shut it obtained. However I believe if Charles had not began to carry out, if he had had a shitty season all yr lengthy, I believe I’d have been one of many drivers they’d have checked out. Generally you’re feeling like you might be getting shut, however nonetheless not that shut. That is the way in which it goes.
“And after that season, Daniel [Ricciardo] left Crimson Bull, and I keep in mind my administration talking to Christian Horner, due to course everybody was speaking in regards to the Crimson Bull seat. And Christian stated, ‘Look, there’s nothing at Crimson Bull, however we will speak about Toro Rosso’. And I stated, ‘No, no, let’s not try this,’ which I most likely ought to have executed.
“It was Gasly who took that [Red Bull] seat. [Alex] Albon was promoted from F2 to Toro Rosso, after which Gasly did not do a very good job – and Albon got here in! So, you realize, the man who obtained that Toro Rosso seat ended up at Crimson Bull.”
It might have been too straightforward – to not say unfair – to place all of it all the way down to luck and probability. You continue to should set targets, plan and work exhausting. Does he really feel he is labored as exhausting as he ought to have? And does he imagine he had the expertise to develop into a world champion?
“I may have executed extra, for certain,” he admits. “You already know, I do not suppose anybody can say ‘I could not have executed extra’. I believe there’ll at all times be issues… There have been instances after I did not work exhausting sufficient. However then there have been instances after I labored my butt off. I do not actually have any regrets. I do not suppose there’s something I may have executed to vary the course of my profession. I actually doubt that.
Kevin Magnussen takes half in Haas’ household image on the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Picture by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Photos
“And what’s sufficient expertise? I believe, you realize, I’d have beloved to have had extra – as a result of it might have made issues simpler! However I believe I had a reasonably good quantity of expertise. If something, I’d have appreciated to have been extra within the know-how right here.
“That half would not actually curiosity me. I wish to simply drive. And I believe all these programs and all this mapping stuff and all this theoretical set-up stuff faults me a bit of bit. I am not a automobile man! More often than not at dwelling I drive my spouse’s Volvo as a result of it is extra snug than my very own automobile. I recognize simply driving and competing. But when I had a much bigger pure curiosity within the know-how facet, it might have most likely benefited me.”
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Maybe he may have executed higher with the media. You’d most likely blame him for having one of many lowest variety of Instagram followers on the grid, regardless of spending ten years within the sport. You’d most likely argue that he may at the least attempt to work on his picture. However whereas different drivers use nearly each arrival within the paddock as a red-carpet alternative, Kev at all times walks via the gates sporting denims, sneakers and a group T-shirt.
“I believe that is part of F1 that I do not actually establish with,” says former welder Magnussen. “Like… being the influencer is one thing I do not relate to. By no means.
“I am a driver. I drive the automobile. I’d really feel very misplaced strolling in with a Prada, you realize, no matter – all these style manufacturers… In the event that they’d paid me some huge cash, okay, possibly I’d put on it! However I’d nonetheless really feel very unusual. I imply, there is a business facet to F1 that I’ve discovered to navigate. Clearly, there’s some huge cash in sponsorship and business offers. However what I’ve type of discovered is that these high-end style manufacturers do not wish to pay anyway as a result of they’re so huge. So that you higher go along with an IT firm.
“What’s all of it for? Constructing an enormous model, turning into a style icon and all that… I believe some persons are simply pleasing their egos. If you concentrate on it… we’re simply racing vehicles, you realize? The actually necessary issues in life are usually not occurring right here.
Kevin Magnussen throughout the drivers’ parade on the 2024 Italian Grand Prix
Picture by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Photos
“However I believe it is one thing that is constructed into us from a younger age, in all these drivers, that that is who we’re. It is our identification. It pleases our egos – to be quick. We really feel good after we’re fast, faster than different guys. It is a bizarre factor, proper, if you concentrate on it! Being quicker than another person, making him really feel shit… That may be a fucking good feeling! And I do not know what it’s. It is a bizarre factor. But when you concentrate on what we truly do right here, it turns into a bit trivial.”
However F1, with all its pretentious grandiosity and over-inflated egos, has given Kevin Magnussen all the things he has now.
“It has given me the chance to dwell a privileged life,” he says. “Initially, I have a look at it from the attitude that I am a dad now. I present for my household and I can try this by driving a automobile and nonetheless take pleasure in life.
“That may be a large privilege that not many individuals have. I can spend on a regular basis I need with my youngsters. And we nonetheless have meals on the desk. You already know, that is crucial factor I take away from this profession. That is what I am most grateful for.”
Life is a really unusual factor. You’ll be able to lose your dream job, get depressed, burn via all of your money, transfer again to your hometown of fifty,000 along with your tail between your legs – and meet the love of your life and the longer term mom of your youngsters.
“She was working as a waitress in a restaurant and I simply began flirting along with her within the restaurant,” Kevin tells of how he met Louise. “I had simply misplaced my seat at McLaren and we met at a time after I was fairly depressed. She was learning – she’s a instructor and she or he was learning for that – and I used to be dwelling in her little condo. Mainly she taken care of me, not the opposite means round.
“I ran out of cash fully. I paid an enormous a part of what I earned to my investor. And I used to be younger and dumb, so I spent the remainder. I spent each penny I earned that yr. So a couple of months into the next yr, I merely ran out of cash. I had no revenue. The financial institution had blocked all my bank cards. So after I obtained a proposal from Toto [Wolff] to do a DTM shootout take a look at with Mercedes, I could not even purchase an EasyJet ticket. She paid for it. And I borrowed her bank card to go to that take a look at and purchase meals and petrol for the rental automobile.
“She’s actually been superb.”
Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Group, his spouse Louise Gjørup and their little one
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photos
He isn’t ending his profession with a world championship. He hasn’t even gained a race. And his solely podium continues to be the one he obtained in Australia in 2014. However he’ll inform you that he is obtained one thing greater out of his time in F1.
“I believe it is one thing that is solely got here within the final couple of years,” he says. “Whereas previously, I believe I used to be very determined simply to be in F1 and to realize my targets in F1. I believed… I actually thought that happiness in life trusted that, you realize? And it has been an incredible reduction to come back out of that bubble and realise that it would not depend upon that in any respect. You already know, it is a good factor to have, but it surely’s not a should.
“I imply, I have a look at it from two angles. In a means, I did not obtain my purpose. And I am truly, you realize… it is annoying! It is form of annoying. And it’ll at all times be annoying! However it’s high-quality, you realize. I have a look at what I obtained out of it and it is actually exhausting to really feel any type of unhealthy feelings. Once I look again on it from that angle, it is like… ‘Hell, sure!'”
On this article
Oleg Karpov
Formulation 1
McLaren
Renault F1 Group
Haas F1 Group
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