Kevin Magnussen has opened up on the nature of his split with McLaren, having had a Kimi Antonelli-esque rise into Formula 1 a decade ago.

Magnussen’s F1 career came to a likely end at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the Danish driver falling off the grid for the third time in 10 years.

Kevin Magnussen: I was in the same situation as Kimi Antonelli

While Magnussen’s career saw him toiling away in the midfield for the vast majority of his 10 years, the Danish driver arrived in Formula 1 with plenty of fanfare.

Having been a member of McLaren’s junior driver programme between 2010 and ’13, Magnussen won the Formula Renault 3.5 championship in d0minant fashion in 2013 and secured a seat with the McLaren team for ’14, replacing Sergio Perez.

McLaren hadn’t quite yet hit the slump that resulted in widespread changes being made in the middle of the last decade, and Magnussen’s rise into a seat with McLaren alongside Jenson Button promised much by way of podiums and possible victories.

The year started well, with Magnussen scoring his maiden (and, it was to be proven, only) F1 podium on debut in Australia as he took third place (promoted to third following a disqualification for Daniel Ricciardo).

But it was to be a false dawn – McLaren’s MP4-29 was not a particularly potent machine and, while Magnussen scored 55 points, this was only enough for 11th overall – his next best result being fifth in Russia.

This led to McLaren dropping him in favour of Fernando Alonso for 2015, a decision which set Magnussen back massively as he’d been led to believe he would remain with the Woking-based squad, meaning it was too late to find a seat elsewhere on the grid.

What had been a rapidly rising star was in danger of being extinguished just months after getting his F1 opportunity, and Magnussen said his situation back then was similar to what Kimi Antonelli is facing in F1 2025 as he makes his debut with Mercedes.

“I think the way I got into Formula 1… I won the feeder series and got into Formula 1 with a big team,” Magnussen told PlanetF1.com in an exclusive interview during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.

“Back then, it was the equivalent of landing your first year in Mercedes. So I was very much… you look at Antonelli now, he’s a young guy coming in with one of the biggest teams.

“I know exactly how that feels because I was in that situation. So it’s funny to think back and see… I was in such a strong position, and then McLaren just went downhill. And that was kind of unfortunate.”

Magnussen’s arrival at McLaren coincided with the start of the team’s slump, a slump which would require a change of management with Zak Brown taking over the helm from Ron Dennis as well as bouncing back from being at the very back of the grid during its Honda tenure, the Danish driver laughed at his misfortune.

“I see it more like I was unlucky… if you look back in history, they were always there, right?” he said.

“And the year I get there is the first one they tank.

“So that was kind of unlucky, but yeah, still, it’s fine. It is what it is. You gotta be happy that I had 10 years in the sport.

“I mean, I was in a pretty desperate position, because my momentum had been so big.”

Magnussen was comprehensively beaten by World Champion teammate Jenson Button in their season together, with the young and inexperienced rookie particularly struggling to understand the Pirelli tyres – leading McLaren to make the decision to shuffle him back to reserve driver as Fernando Alonso came up for grabs.

“From one day to the other, it ended, and I really didn’t expect it,” Magnussen said.

“Everyone was giving me a sense of security, you know, Ron Dennis included.

“Who would have known that Ron Dennis ended up not making the calls at McLaren? That was unthinkable at the time. So, because I had his support, I felt completely safe.

“Then it turned out he didn’t and ended up not having the last word, and I lost my drive. So it was a desperate situation.

“Ron thought he was going to regain power there. So he told me to hang on, don’t go anywhere else. Stay here. ‘I might even get you in halfway in the season and everything and, if not, then the following year’.

“Then I hung around, I sort of served and nothing happened. I could see he was losing power even more, so it wasn’t happening. I was in a desperate position.”

Sitting on the sidelines throughout 2015, Magnussen didn’t initially find a drive for ’16 either. However, he struck lucky when Pastor Maldonado was dropped from the Renault line-up just before the ’16 season began – giving Magnussen a chance to return to the grid.

But, having been in that desperate position, how had Magnussen coped mentally with seeing a promising career crumbling away? With his father, Jan, having gone through similar difficulties in his own F1 career during the 1990s, had Magnussen senior been able to help his son keep perspective?

“I think it was almost more like friends and my wife, now wife, She was my girlfriend back then.

“Me and my dad have kind of never… we’re both racing drivers, but we’ve kind of done our own things in a way.

“He’s always been supportive, of course, and he’s had his own career simultaneously as he’s not that old! He only turned 50 last year, so he had just entered his 40s when I got here. So it’s kind of weird how you know he was still a young racing driver, in a way, when I got here!

“He was very busy with his own things and wasn’t really a big part of it.”

The year with Renault proved dismal for the Enstone-based squad, scoring just eight points in total. But seven of those points were scored by Magnussen, who proved head-and-shoulders clear of Jolyon Palmer. This demolition was enough to attract the attention of Haas, with Magnussen being signed by the American squad for ’17 in place of the underwhelming Esteban Gutierrez.

It was at Haas that Magnussen found his home – his steeliness and maverick ‘Viking spirit’ matching up well with the no-nonsense underdog team. It was with Haas that Magnussen established himself as a strong midfield runner over the next four seasons, with his attitude and prowess meaning he was the first port of call when Haas needed someone again in ’22 after dropping Nikita Mazepin.

“It was important to find somewhere that I could sort of establish myself,” Magnussen said of his rebuild with Haas.

“Haas gave me the stability to start over again, find my feet, and build myself up.

“I think that’s, that’s been really good, I think I got a really good chance when I came here in 2017 to establish myself and try and show myself worthy of a big drive and big team.

“So I had that opportunity, I think. It didn’t happen but I think I was blessed with the opportunity, at least.”

Magnussen thought his F1 career had come to a close after 2020 when, faced with financial uncertainty, Haas turned to a pay driver in Nikita Mazepin alongside Mick Schumacher. It meant having to say goodbye to Magnussen and teammate Romain Grosjean, although it was clear the Danish driver hadn’t been dropped for performance reasons.

This resulted in the relationship remaining friendly, and Magnussen had no problem picking up the phone to team boss Guenther Steiner in early 2022 when the circumstances changed.

In the three seasons since, Magnussen has proven he’s willing to do anything in order to help Haas score points. This season alone, such as in Saudi Arabia and Miami, Magnussen has sacrificed his own race in order to help teammate Nico Hulkenberg – ahead on track – in order to secure points by slowing down the opposition, no matter how obstructive he needs to be.

It’s rare that a driver will show such selflessness, but the evolved nature of the relationship between Magnussen and Hulkenberg – which wasn’t always friendly in the past – as well as Magnussen with Haas, meant making those sacrifices came easily to the Dane.

“I think, as a driver, there are big egos around here, right?” he said.

“For myself, something that I’ve learned is to control that ego a little more. That’s allowed me to be a better team player and see the bigger picture, rather than just trying to be here for myself and my own benefit, you know?

“I feel more like part of the team, just another team member. I feel each person here in the team would sacrifice their own benefit for the greater good of the team. So why should I be different?

“That’s certainly something that I’ve learned over the years. I think it would be different if I was fighting for the Drivers’ World Championship, because, in that case, there is something for me to win that the rest of the team won’t be taking part in.

“It’s actually a Drivers’ Championship, so it’s for the drivers. I’m not fighting for that championship so I feel like I’m almost not in it – I don’t take part in it, in a way, because there is no realistic chance of fighting for it.

“So what I am a part of is the Constructors’ Championship and we do best working together in that.”

But while Magnussen’s career in F1 has come to an end for now, it’s not time to write him off entirely just yet. His relationship with Haas is likely to continue in some shape or form, with both sides eager to stay working together, while Magnussen, at only 32, may yet be a prospect for the upcoming Cadillac entry in 2026.

Magnussen has raced for Cadillac via the Chip Ganassi Racing entry in IMSA during his F1 career break in 2021, and, while a fourth opportunity in F1 seems unlikely, it’s not entirely impossible to imagine that he could, at least, get an enquiring phone call from the GM manufacturer before too long.

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