Kevin Magnussen has had more than one ‘last’ Formula 1 race during his career. But the 32-year-old’s grand prix career finally appears to be at an end following his latest departure from Haas.
He ended his final season 15th in the standings with less than half the points of his team mate Nico Hulkenberg. Both drivers enjoyed more competitive seasons than last year, however, as Haas successfully tackled the tyre life problem which plagued its chassis during 2023.Hulkenberg was regularly the quicker of the pair over a single flying lap, usually able to find the last few tenths of a second which makes such a huge difference in the midfield these days. On average Magnussen was around 0.16 seconds off, which often meant he failed to accompany his team mate into Q3 and started several places behind him.
This had other knock-on effects for Magnussen, particularly early in the season when the team snatched at every point available, having only scored 12 and finished last the year before. When Hulkenberg ran higher up the order at tracks like Jeddah and Miami, Magnussen was deployed to delay his pursuers, which the team decided was the best way he could contribute to their points-scoring on those occasions.
That plus an enforced absence from the Brazilian Grand Prix due to illness meant Magnussen’s final season was inevitably patchy. There were some positive moments from his later races, however, and he was taken out of contention for points in the season finale, where Haas strived in vain to beat Alpine to sixth in the standings, through not fault of his own due to a slow pit stop.
But while Magnussen final F1 season was not as poor as they numbers may indicate, nor did it make a convincing case to Haas that he deserved a 10th year at the top flight. While the team was disappointed to learn early in the season that they would lose Hulkenberg to Sauber, Magnussen’s deal was not renewed.
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The fireworks some predicted when Magnussen and Hulkenberg first teamed up at Haas last year failed to materialise. Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has assembled an all-new line-up for his second year in charge and some wonder whether Esteban Ocon, who has had a few run-is with past team mates, and promising rookie Oliver Bearman might test the team’s management rather more.
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Unrepresentative comparisons omitted. Negative value: Magnussen was faster; Positive value: Hulkenberg was faster
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Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
28th December 2024, 16:01
I do think Magnussen looked a bit worse in the first half than he really was. He basically did play things tactically for his team, and helped Hulkenberg. I remember in Australia he was actually doing a better job but he let Hulkenberg by. While the dirty driving stuff was all done by him, some of it massively aided the team and Hulkenberg, so I almost think that the team almost gained a little from Magnussen’s ban and I don’t view it as bas as some may do. Some of the penalties he got for certain things were certainly too harsh.
Something that really shows that either Magnussen hasn’t been that bad, or that Hulkenberg hasn’t been that good is that there was a perioud of 9 races where they each scored 9 points each. In that perioud, Magnussen missed two races. One due to his ban and the other because he wasn’t well. And also, the team admitted that they cost him points in the USA, which if true, then he would have scored more points in these 7 races than Hulkenberg scored in 9.
Yes, I am picking certain parts of the season, but I certainly don’t think Hulkenberg has been anywhere near as good as many have ben making out to be. I think that car has been very strong in the latter half of the season, and the middle stage of the season, Hulkenberg seemed to have a big slump. I’m unsure how good he will be at Sauber. The more recent races such as Brazil where he got stuck then disqualified and then Quatar where he took 2 drivers out then despite surviving that, beached himself later on. I feel Hulkenberg sort of turned into the early Magnussen of this year with his mistakes. The difference between them in the points isn’t all that representetive and I would just say that while it is clear Hulkenberg was better, it wasn’t by all that much averaged out.
Aaditya (@neutronstar)
29th December 2024, 1:56
Hulkenberg’s mistake in Qatar was weird and shouldn’t have happened, but you are being too harsh on him for Brazil. It was a difficult race even for the best of the drivers and Hulk’s mistake was miniscule; it was a tiny lock up and he was unfortunate to get his car stuck (Bearman spun like 4-5 times and still got a chance to finish the race). Getting disqualified was just a consequence of the marshalls trying to help him back on track but your comment makes it seem like yet another mistake on his part.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th December 2024, 14:38
@neutronstar
He’s spun / crashed out in the wet before, and the end result was no better. Where you make a mistake is all down to the driver. I remember Bottas spinning at least 6 times in turkey when it was wet, but he didn’t get stuck or crash out.
I am indeed against him for the disqualification. He was experienced enough to know that as he had to have assistence if he chose to stay in his car, then that was it. He will / certainly should have known these two options:
1: He was totally stuck, so he should get out of the car and leave the marshalls to deal with it.
2: He let the marshals push him so he could get going again, but knowing the rules, he was required to pull over in a safe place or drive back to the pits and not continue.
Given what was going on around him, it was probably better to stay in the car.
Regardless, it was his fault that he was disqualified, which was the first time a driver has done so in over a decade, a bit like Magnussen’s race ban.
All in all, I concider that race and result to be a very low point of his season.
Aaditya (@neutronstar)
29th December 2024, 15:43
That’s too harsh
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th December 2024, 21:23
I also think that’s too harsh, I remember that race in turkey where bottas spun 5-6 times as one of the worst races for bottas, hulkenberg here was no worse.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
29th December 2024, 21:34
I agree it wasn’t certainly wasn’t a worse performance regarding Hulkenberg in Brazil vs Bottas in Brazil Turkey (bottas was terrible there), but I still see mistakes by a driver that have bigger consequences as a worse mistake. If it is a mistake by the driver, surely the outcome should be judged especially if it involves no other driver’s input?
I still see the disqualification to be triggered by Hulkenberg and not showing his experience / knowledge. That along with the mistake to get him in that situation is why I’m against him for this.
I probably shouldn’t have gone as far as saying it was a very low point of his season, as his pace was good that race. However, Qatar certainly was a poor show.
F180 (@f180)
28th December 2024, 17:29
One thing that worries me a little is if Haas will ever be competitive.
El Pollo Loco
29th December 2024, 4:18
Depends on what you mean by competitive. This was one of their most competitive seasons ever. They were the fifth fastest team for most of the season.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th December 2024, 21:25
I think haas are pretty competitive realistically speaking, they’re never gonna challenge mercedes or stronger teams, they can be best of the rest, depending how aston martin ends up under newey.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th December 2024, 21:25
As in they can be competitive in the midfield, they ofc won’t be competing with the top teams.
notagrumpyfan
29th December 2024, 8:07
In a field of 10 teams, being often fifth fastest seems fairly competitive to me.
But anyway I doubt the protagonists of this article will have any concern about that. ;)