Steiner happy with maturing Magnussen: 'He is more relaxed'

Kevin Magnussen returned to Formula 1 in 2022 after a year's absence and came back more mature. Guenther Steiner is very happy to have the Dane rejoining his team.

At the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season, Haas decided to say goodbye to Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. The two delivered fine performances, but the team was looking for young drivers with more money. Magnussen also often had arguments with his team boss, as seen during Drive to Survive, in which the Dane slammed the door hard after talking to his boss.

Magnussen has grown up

A year away, however, has done Magnussen good. He had already lost his sights in F1, when Steiner called him back anyway to replace Nikita Mazepin. Magnussen had nothing left to lose and decided above all to enjoy the new adventure. With points in his first race and a pole in Brazil, he succeeded quite well.

''I mean, he’s just matured, you know, by getting older. We all get calmer and see things sometimes a little bit differently,'' the Italian team boss said to Formula1.com. Magnussen is relaxed himself, but the new full-time race engineer, Mark Slade, with his experience at Renault, Mercedes and McLaren, is also lending a hand.

''He’s most of the time very relaxed about things, and now with the combination of Mark with him, I hope in the future we will see even a better Kevin.'' In 2023, Magnussen will get a new teammate with Nico Hulkenberg. Mick Schumacher was deemed too light at his side and so now an old friend will join Magnussen.