With Kevin Magnussen putting F1 behind him, probably for good this time, the Danish driver has revealed how having a family has changed his mentality towards racing.

Magnussen’s F1 career has come to what is likely a definitive end, with the American squad opting for a whole new driver line-up with Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman for F1 2025.

Kevin Magnussen thinking ‘This is it’ at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

It’s the third occasion in which Magnussen has gone into the winter without a drive for next season. After his debut season in 2014, Magnussen was dropped from the McLaren driver line-up in favour of Fernando Alonso while, in 2020, Haas’ precarious financial situation saw the team turn to Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher for ’21.

Magnussen secured a return with Haas in early ’22 when Mazepin was dropped from the driver line-up, duly putting in another three-year stint to make him the driver with the most appearances for the squad after his initial stint between 2017 and ’20.

But, with F1 comebacks rare once a driver leaves the grid, Magnussen has already managed it twice – meaning a third comeback seems unlikely, although not entirely unthinkable if the upcoming Cadillac entry expresses an interest.

With no F1 drive for 2025, Magnussen has put pen to paper on a drive with BMW in the World Endurance Championship and IMSA, where he has been added to the LDMh programme. His racing schedule is yet to be fully fleshed out, but Magnussen’s existing pedigree in sportscars with Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing means he is a strong contender for high-profile endurance victories at the likes of Daytona, Sebring, and Le Mans.

Both Magnussen and Haas have indicated interest in continuing to work together in the future, although the nature of any such agreement is yet to be thrashed out.

It’s been a storied F1 career for Magnussen, who exploded onto the scene with McLaren at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix as he scored a podium in his very first race. It proved a false dawn though, with McLaren’s sporadic form resulting in the Dane being overlooked in favour of the two-time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso for the following season – a blow that sent Magnussen’s career in a completely different direction as he first signed with Renault and, later, Haas, in his efforts to stabilise his future.

Magnussen was accompanied by his wife Louise and children Laura and Agnes for what is likely to have been his last race in Formula 1, and it’s clear as he sat down with us in the Abu Dhabi paddock that this is a man completely at ease with his life.

Having already come to terms with what was expected to be his F1 career ending after 2020, there’s no sense of frustration or restlessness as Magnussen relaxes into his seat as we begin our interview in front of the Haas hospitality unit. He’s in a jovial and reflective mood, laughing off my apologies for focusing on the hypothetical and the ‘what-may-have-been’ questions lobbed his way.

“I’m definitely going this ‘This might be it’,” he told PlanetF1.com when asked about what mindset he was taking into the weekend at Yas Marina.

“The weird thing is I’ve just been in this situation two times before, I’ve been at this race thinking it was the last one twice before. So this is the third time!”

Put to him that the Abu Dhabi paddock must therefore bring up some uncomfortable memories, he said: “The thing is I do [like this paddock!].

“At the same time, this is where it all happened – 13 years ago, I came here for my first Formula 1 test, and that was super exciting, you know?

“So there are lots of good memories, and I have to say, in 2020, it was good in the sense that I was happy – I was looking forward to what was coming after that, you know?

“It was my last race in Formula 1, but I wasn’t sad. In 2014, I was pretty depressed about the situation. But, this time, today, of course, I’m talking to you guys [media] and being reminded a lot that is the last one but I’m not really thinking about it so much!”

Kevin Magnussen: Family life has changed racing mentality

Magnussen has picked up a reputation for being one of the most uncompromising racers on the grid, frequently proving himself a nightmare for drivers hoping to get past the Haas driver with ease.

In 2018, Magnussen made headlines over comments in which he was alleged to have expressed a willingness to “die in the car” while racing – comments which led to understandable consternation at the time.

“Sometimes you have to be a lot more aggressive when you’re fighting out there,” he told Reuters.

“I will give everything. I will die in the car. I won’t hold back. I would put my life on [the line]. Absolutely.”

Taking to social media, Magnussen clarified his position as: “I don’t want to die in a race car. I was expressing my willingness to give absolutely everything in my power to achieve success. Success to me obviously isn’t having accidents or getting penalties but finishing races in as high a position as possible.”

Speaking in the here and now, six and a half years later and in a very different place in his life with a wife and children, what does Magnussen make of that particular furore?

“I didn’t roll back on the comments – I just made sure that what I actually said was in context rather than out of context,” he said.

“I remember that thing, I was trying to express my commitment in the car by saying that, in these moments where you put everything on the line, yeah, I am willing to die in the car.

“That was what I expressed. But I should have known that that would have just been the headline, you know? I think the headline actually said I will die in the car, as in I had decided to die in the car!

“That’s not the context that I was trying to express.”

While Magnussen’s approach to racing wheel-to-wheel suggests fearlessness in the cockpit, the now-32-year-old admitted there are aspects of racing in Formula 1 that no longer feel particularly comfortable for him.

“It has certainly changed,” he said of his mentality.

“There’s something in me that, in certain situations, it’s just not as fun anymore.

“Like, for example, most of the time it has zero effect. When it’s raining and we can’t see anything and we’re going 300kph down a straight, that’s just not fun anymore.

“It’s not like I’m scared. I don’t have any feeling of, like, nervousness. I don’t feel scared.

“I just feel like I shouldn’t be doing it. I think that’s probably something that comes with the responsibility of being a parent.”

Don’t worry Kev, no more Haas caps to sign 😉✍️#HaasF1 #F1 | @KevinMagnussen pic.twitter.com/O3d6SutfY6

— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) December 16, 2024

Kevin Magnussen: Being in F1 felt like winning the lottery

Given how Magnussen’s career played out in a very different way from what might have been expected during that breakthrough season in 2014, it would be easy to imagine that the Haas driver would feel somewhat bitter about how things played out – the success that seemed so imminent never materialised.

Indeed, Magnussen’s F1 stint has ended with the unenviable record of having taken part in the most races without ever leading a lap – he raced in 185 races, 27 more than Martin Brundle, without ever being P1. He did lead for two laps of the Sprint in Brazil in 2022, having secured a very popular pole position, but was powerless to hold onto the lead as the race unfolded.

But in terms of regrets, Magnussen denied having any at all.

“Generally, I feel very blessed and just very privileged,” he said.

“I feel very lucky. If I think about the whole journey, I feel like I won the lottery, although I still didn’t achieve my goals.

“I was dreaming about being World Champion in Formula 1. I didn’t achieve that. So I am open about that and I’m cool with that. I have accepted it – I look at what I got, instead of what I didn’t get.”

While his decade in Formula 1 may not have played out how he envisioned during that seismic year in 2014, Magnussen was pragmatic when asked whether he thinks F1 has treated him fairly.

“Formula 1 is not fair. You can’t expect it to be fair. I think I gained a lot,” he said.

“I am very thankful for what Formula 1 and my career in Formula 1 gave me.

“So in that sense, it’s almost like not fair, but in the other way… I got so much out of it that I almost feel like I don’t deserve it. I just drove a car and did my thing for me.”

With our interview coming to an end, and Magnussen getting up to head off to his next appointment in what is a weekend full of quiet contemplation alongside a very busy media schedule, he ponders a little over one last question – did F1 ever match up to what he’d hoped before making it into the sport?

“As a kid, I was dreaming about Formula 1,” he said.

“So, in a child’s brain, it’s a fairytale world, you know?

“I didn’t imagine this ever coming to feel like a job.

“In the end, after 10 years, it does become a job. There are days that you don’t want to… you’ve just got to get through, and it’s boring… I never imagined that it would feel like that.

“In my little child’s brain, it was just a fairy tale world full of adventures and glorious days at the track.

“But, of course, the reality is slightly different, but, still, it’s been super fulfilling.”

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