JANUARY 4, 2017
Haas better fit than Renault or McLaren says Magnussen
Kevin Magnussen is sure he will enjoy his F1 career more now that he has switched teams for the second time.
Kevin Magnussen is sure he will enjoy his F1 career more now that he has switched teams for the second time.
The Dane debuted for McLaren, but fell out with Ron Dennis, who has now been ousted himself by the Woking based team's other shareholders.
Magnussen, 24, returned after a year's absence with Renault last year, but opted to move to Haas for 2017 thanks to the offer of a multi-year contract.
"Haas is a completely different team than both McLaren and Renault," he told the Danish newspaper BT. "And it fits much better for me.
"I feel like I've been unlucky in formula one to hit two teams that were having a bit of a mess with their leadership," Magnussen explained.
"But Haas is a much cleaner management structure. Gunther Steiner runs the team and Gene Haas is the owner, but they're both real racers who are in formula one because they love the sport, not because they want a profile or to make a lot of money.
"That suits me really well, because I'm exactly the same type," he added.
Magnussen also thinks his working environment will be much better at Haas, hinting that the sponsorship and PR duties at McLaren and Renault were overwhelming.
"Haas is much less dependent on sponsors than Renault, and I'm super happy about that," he said.
"Promotional work can take your focus away from racing, and it also takes time that otherwise could be spent on training.
"Motor sport has unfortunately become a sport in which the driver's physical fitness and wellbeing are not considered particularly highly -- it is just assumed that we are in very good shape.
"But how do we get in top condition if there is not enough time to train?"
BT said Magnussen has been training harder than ever throughout December to be in top shape for the start of the season in March.
"It will be necessary," he said, "because there are many indications that the 2017 cars will be the fastest in formula one history."
(GMM)