BUDAPEST, Hungary — Kevin Magnussen said his priority is to stay in Formula One beyond 2024 but his immediate future is still being held up by Carlos Sainz‘s own contract situation.
On Thurdsay, Haas confirmed Magnussen — the team’s most experienced driver — will leave at the end of the season.
The American team has already signed Oliver Bearman and appears set to sign outgoing Alpine driver Esteban Ocon for the other seat, a move which could be announced ahead of next week’s Belgian Grand Prix.
“I hope I can stay in Formula One,” Magnussen said after confirming he’s talking to several teams.
“I think there’s some interesting seats available. I think all the teams by now in Formula One are interesting. The whole bunch. … You could look at any team and say they might be a top-five team next year. Everyone’s so tightly together. It feels like there’s still interesting opportunities.”
There are still seats available at Alpine, Williams and Sauber, but each appears waiting for Sainz to make his decision before committing elsewhere.
Sainz has been weighing up various options since February, when Ferrari confirmed it had signed Lewis Hamilton for next year.
Several sources have indicated to ESPN that Sainz might also be delaying things to assess whether opportunities open up at either Red Bull or Mercedes.
Magnussen had previously described Sainz as “the cork in the bottle” in terms of other drivers making their next decisions.
Magnussen hopes Sainz does not delay too much longer.
“He’s the big name available right now. All the teams that have available seats are trying to secure him,” Magnussen said.
“I think eventually some of the teams will become impatient. Or might come, I can’t say for sure. But he can’t keep holding it up. But I’m sure he won’t.
“He’s going to make the decision that is best for him. He’s rightly so considering very carefully where he’s going. Not that I’ve talked to him about it, but I can imagine that he is. That’s the situation. When that lands, then all the rest will pretty quickly sort itself out.”
On whether that’s left him in a frustrating position in terms of his own next steps, Magnussen said: “In a way, yes, but it’s natural. You have a race-winning Ferrari driver suddenly available. And actually available only to the bottom teams. So they’re obviously seeing a big opportunity. That makes sense to me.”
Magnussen is no stranger to an uncertain F1 future. After his rookie season with McLaren he spent the following year as the team’s reserve driver. After stints with Renault and Haas he spent a year out in 2021, before making a sensational return in 2022 after assuming his F1 career was over.
Although remaining in F1 is the priority, Magnussen said the prospect of life away from the sport is something he will find easier to accept this time around.
“There is a lot [outside F1]. In 2021, I was out of F1, but I was racing in IMSA [sports car racing],” he said.
“It’s actually quite a busy schedule. You’re going to America 11 or 12 times during the year. It wasn’t a quiet year, but it was at least a very different year.
“You have to remember my whole life since I was a little kid was about getting to Formula One. Then I’ve had 10 years in the sport. It was interesting and exciting to see a different side of life in 2021. It wasn’t frightening. It was actually very positive and fun.
“I think that changed my mindset in terms of … I had a lot of fear before that of losing in Formula One because I didn’t know what was on the outside. That showed me that hold on to Formula One as long as you can, but don’t fear the outside. The afterlife [of F1] is going to be good.”
Source: www.espn.com