Kevin Magnussen explained why he had previously refused a “casual offer” from Red Bull Racing to drive in Toro Rosso at the time.
Dane’s Formula 1 career started very promising. When he arrived at the McLaren Stage in 2014, a bright future was to be expected, and this confirmed the completion of the podium on his Australian debut.
But since then, things haven’t gone as smoothly as Magnussen had hoped. The driver was demoted to a McLaren test and backup driver in 2015 to make way for Fernando Alonso, and he was fired at the end of the year.
An unsuccessful 2016 with Renault ensued, before Magnussen was selected for the following season by Haas as a partner of Romain Grosjean.
In 2018, the US team enjoyed some very good performances in Formula 1 as they competed at the front of the midfield. He finished the season in P5 in the constructors’ championship, his best performance so far. Magnussen scored 56 points.
But with the end of the year approaching, an important decision ensued. Daniel Ricciardo surprised Red Bull by announcing that he was leaving for Renault, so Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly was promoted to Red Bull, leaving a vacant seat at Toro Rosso.
Magnussen has said in the past that the team contacted him about a potential deal, and in an interview with Danesh BT, he has now confirmed that he had not entered into negotiations because staying with Haas at the time was the best step of his career. seemed. “When we spoke to them, it quickly became clear that they had a candidate for the seat of Red Bull (Jasly), but they mentioned that there would be a vacancy in Toro Rosso,” Magnussen said. “It wasn’t like they had put out a contract or anything like that, but it was clearly an option.”
“We chose to ignore this opportunity because I felt really satisfied with Haas and I think we can continue the positive development that we have seen through 2018.”
Unfortunately, 2019 has turned into the beginning of Haas’ decline. Magnussen left the team at the end of 2020.
