Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas VF-23. Australian Grand Prix, Friday 31st March 2023. Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Kevin Magnussen says it “took a few years” to readjust his Formula 1 targets and settle for positions in the midfield.
Magnussen debuted with McLaren in 2014, scoring a podium on his debut, but was axed after his rookie season and returned at Renault in 2016.
Magnussen switched to Haas for 2017, remaining there through 2020, and returned for 2022 as a replacement for the exiled Nikita Mazepin.
Magnussen has established himself as a staple of Formula 1’s midfield but says it took time to accept lowered expectations off the back of his junior career.
“I expected to get on the podium in 2014, because I didn’t know any better,” said Magnussen, at the Australian Grand Prix, reflecting on his debut.
“I kind of expected to win: I came off a junior career where that was always the case. Every race you were going for the win, the pole, the championships.
“I came to Formula 1 in that same mindset and then reality hit. It made the first race not so special as it was expected – if it [a podium] came now I’d be much happier.
“I lost a lot of confidence [through 2014] and found myself in a new space where you know you can’t win, and you have that feeling so badly that you need to be winning otherwise it’s not good enough.
“If I was fifth I would be depressed, today I would be over the moon, I was always frustrated and just not in the right mindset.
“It took a few years [to adapt] – probably my third year I was starting to be more grown up in my thinking.”
Keyword: Magnussen ‘took years’ to adjust to F1 mentality