“I don’t know if Daniel Ricciardo will make the team better”: Kevin Magnussen is unsure about 33-year old former Red Bull star helping his team improve

Daniel Ricciardo has been heavily linked to the Haas team over the last few weeks but Kevin Magnussen is not sure if it’ll help them. 

Magnussen returned to F1 in 2022 after a year’s hiatus. His return was unexpected and sudden, as it happened only because Nikita Mazepin was axed just days before the start of the season.

His performances since returning, however, have been very impressive. He finished P5 on his first race back in Bahrain. It was a huge boost for Haas who went through some tough times over the last two years. Magnussen’s teammate Mick Schumacher on the other hand, is having a very inconsistent season.

Schumacher had a very rough start to the year. In Silverstone and Austria, however, he put in some brilliant performances that led to people believing that he is finally delivering what he promised. In spite of that, his season as a whole has been underwhelming. Haas boss Guenther Steiner criticized the young German for being inconsistent and did not guarantee his place in the team for 2023.

Former Red Bull and now McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo may be Schumacher’s replacement at Haas in 2023.

Also read: “I think that was a very disrespectful comment”: Sebastian Vettel defends Lewis Hamilton after 2-time World Champion calls him ‘idiot’ on radio

Daniel Ricciardo may have won races only because he was at Red Bull, says Kevin Magnussen

Ricciardo has won eight races in his F1 career up until now. Seven of those wins came back when he was with Red Bull, which Magnussen highlighted in a recent interview. Since leaving the Austrian outfit, Ricciardo struggled to settle at Renault and is now having a nightmare stint at McLaren.

His McLaren stay is coming to an end after eight more races. However, if rumors are to be true, Steiner is considering Ricciardo as a replacement to Schumacher. Magnussen on the other hand, is unsure if Ricciardo coming to the Kannapolis based outfit will benefit them in any way.

“I don’t know if he could make the team better, I’ve never raced against him,” the Dane said.

“From the outside, he has always been someone I thought was extremely good. But it’s just very hard to judge in reality. How much of that was him being in a good car and how much of that was actually him. He obviously went up against Max Verstappen. And did really well against Max and I’m pretty convinced Max is as good as he looks.

Also read: Red Bull chief Helmut Marko speaks out on $1.5 million worth IndyCar driver’s superlicense issues