Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Yas Marina, 2020

Magnussen unsure if “the chapter is closed” on his F1 career

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: Kevin Magnussen says he’s focussing on his career after F1, but wouldn’t rule out a return if the right opportunity came along.

What they say

Asked by RaceFans whether he’d consider returning to Formula 1 as a substitute Magnussen said “it depends which team, I guess”, but indicated he’s concentrating on his post-grand prix career:

A new book opened, for sure, but whether the chapter is closed, I don’t know. You never know what can happen in these things.

But I’m not really looking back. I’m looking ahead and trying to build a career outside of Formula 1. I have a lot of experience and you should never say never but I’m certainly looking ahead.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

Why is it taking so long for Lewis Hamilton to agree a contract with Mercedes for the 2021 F1 season?

I doubt Hamilton’s contract delay is only about money. If it is about money then Mercedes have much cheaper options.

Hamilton is very close to retirement from being an F1 driver as such there are considerations to be made about his role after he does retire. There are also things to do with image rights, future products or projects etc…

Mercedes won’t also want him to do a Rosberg midway through an agreement.
OOliver

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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18 comments on “Magnussen unsure if “the chapter is closed” on his F1 career”

  1. Why can’t it be all about money? Team wants Ham, he wants to stay. Who pays for it? not Brackley. Sponsors may not see a return in it, surely he is worth a chunk of it, at least I think mercedes has been selling lots of cars in the UK in particular. Generally sponsors pay 50% of the salary. Ham does not want to do as much PR work then where is the money coming?

    1. @peartree

      I guess the percentages sponsors cough up for drivers salaries would depend on the agreements. For example, at Ferrari during their hey day, the driver salaries were paid for by Phillip Morris. I am not sure what that percentage is in the case of Merc, but surely, it isnt insignificant.

      So you raise a good point with respect to the PR work, which Hamilton has been on record saying he wants to do less of. Perhaps a deal is being struck with respect to image right, which can also be complicated for a person who has a very strong personal brand. If I’m not wrong, Daimler aren’t sitting around looking to write cheques for Toto Wolff to go spend, so it could very well be about the money.

      It’s most likely a combination of things. Lewis wants to do less PR for more money, which in his position, is a legitimate position to take. However, even if Lewis has helped sell more Merc’s in the UK, is there such a thing as “peak marketing”? Lewis may be holding a fair few cards, but Merc have a few up their sleeves as well.

      In the end, I’m sure this all a bit of posturing, they’ll come to an agreement. Hopefully it all works out!

      1. In the end, I’m sure this all a bit of posturing, they’ll come to an agreement.

        Exactly @jaymenon10!

    2. seriously though, who would actually buy a car because their favourite race driver is contracted to that team? Contract ends and they move to another team, oh bummer, now I gotta buy a different brand.
      Out of my 30 odd cars in the past 25 years, and my 5 motorbikes, none have been because of a racing winning rider/driver. The only item influenced by a race winner was my Suomy Aaron Slight replica helmet.
      Are people really that fickle they would buy a mercedes because Lewis Hamilton drives for Mercedes? Not particularly fair on Ferrari then is it? most ferrari fans couldn’t afford a ferrari, I’m a supporter of Honda in F1, always have been, but I’ve only ever had one Honda road car, and I’m not rushing to get another one, because they just don’t suit my needs for a road car. I bought a Merc C320 years ago, not because Schumacher and Rosberg were driving for them, but because I loved the staggered wheels, it had all the bells and whistles and a great motor. I replaced that with a Saab 9-5 Aero wagon because I couldn’t take the Merc to NZ due to emissions levels.
      So I do seriously ask, how many people on here have actually bought a car because their favourite driver is a driver for that marque?

  2. Saw something that made me chuckle: Tropical Cyclone Kimi.

    If there is one weather phenomenon that I would not associate with Räikkönen, it is this.

    1. More like a stiff, persistent breeze @kazinho

  3. The Dubai Autodrome should be in place of the Abu Dhabi track for F1. It’s just a better track and Dubai is a better place for an event like F1.

    1. @mfreire Not necessarily. Whether Dubai Autodrome would be better for the quality of racing than the Yas Marina Circuit is debatable. Even more, so is the latter claim that Dubai would be a better place for an event like F1 than Abu Dhabi. Based on what? Another case of people for some reason favoring Dubai over Abu Dhabi, in general. That place is somewhat overrated in this regard. I’ve been to both, though.
      More relevantly for the tracks: I’ve driven both, and they’re quite equally enjoyable, but in the end, I tend to lean a bit more towards YMC. Dubai Autodrome doesn’t even seem to have a floodlighting infrastructure. At least, not in the Project Cars games.

      1. I have raced the Formula DXB cars at the Dubai Autodrome a couple of times now and can vouch for it as a very raceable track. The facilities however are not that great although I am sure they’d throw a lot of money at making them “F1 grade” if it ever came to that. The trouble for them is that the track is minutes away from Abu Dhabi which is far too grand (and profit making for F1) to be dropped from the calendar.

  4. Yes it is, Kevin

    1. Definitely he shouldn’t think of going back to F1 anymore.

  5. Top Race Junior race circuit is inacceptable. Kids racing Nascar-like racecars on an insecure field is appalling. Motorsports regulators have to act, everywhere.

    1. @jeff1s Motorsport in Argentina is a curious thing these days. On one hand, the cars have steadily improved, performance and safety wise. But on the other, circuits are the worst they’ve ever been… even the most common tracks in every series calendars are in dire straits.

      Believe it or not Parana’s track is probably one of the safest… even tho it’s not upgraded the walls surrounding the track along the main straight, first corner, and last corner at all, and there isn’t even a catch fence. But you’d be SHOCKED to see other tracks.

      It’s “funny”…. STC2000 is one of the most advanced touring car series in the world (or it used to be). Certainly one of the fastest. Yet they race at tracks with massive potholes, escape zones that have ditches that get flooded when it rains…

      It used to be ALL dangerous. Cars AND tracks. Now the cars are the fastest they’ve ever been, but the tracks are stuck in the 70s… Since the 2000s, when the economic recovered following 2001, Goverments started building tracks to get the most prestigious racing series racing there and the tourism that goes along, but then they start losing interest and the circuits get abandoned. Even traditional tracks get forgotten, or even masterpieces like Potrero de los Funes is hardly used these days!

      1. @jeff1s All in all, it’s just a miracle there has not been a catastrophe since Guido Falaschi’s accident in 2011, I think.

  6. Of course, they’d want to have spectator attendance. Every place ideally wants this – street tracks especially. It mightn’t necessarily be entirely up to them, though. The viability of spectator attendance will, to a large extent, determine the fate of the Azerbaijan GP for this year. BTW, the title should read ‘cancellation’ instead of postponement.

    Re COTD: Merely to point out one little detail, Rosberg didn’t quit midway through an agreement as his two-year deal hadn’t started yet, so more like before an agreement. Otherwise, the COTD gives out valid options that could explain the delay.

  7. If certain teams face covid situations without an estabilished reserve driver this season, I guess Magnussen might be one of those they call, not neccessarily Hülkenberg anymore. The Dane has recent experience fighting through the entire last season, and the points he collected doesn’t really reflect his fine efforts. I hope to see him back full time, but I’m afraid that we are going to see more and more talented drivers elbowed out if 2 more teams won’t provide 4 new seats.

    1. @andrewt Difficult to do a one-off appearance from the US, though.

      1. @jerejj Good point, especially considering the current travelling and border crossing limitations. His season however consists of only twelve rounds, so he could manage it, but of course I don’t wish for any driver to be forced out of events due to positive tests and to be in need for a replacement.

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