“The rest of my career will only be racing with a hope of winning”: Former McLaren driver claims has no intention of returning to the sport’s midfield

Former McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen insists he does not want to compete in a category where he can’t fight for race wins. 

Magnussen’s F1 career spanned over a period of seven years. In those years, he managed to earn just one podium finish, and spent the majority of the time, scrambling around the lower-midfield region.

His last stint in the sport was with American team Haas, where he spent four campaigns. His best season with the team and his F1 career came in 2018, where he finished 9th with 56 points to his name.

However, since then, it’s been a downward spiral in F1 for the Danish driver. His contract with Haas wasn’t renewed after the 2020 season. As a result, he made the journey across the pond to compete in the WeatherTech Sports Car Championships.

While it didn’t have the glamour F1 does, Magnussen admits he’s happy because he’s at a place where he can compete for race wins.

“The rest of my career will be only racing with a hope of winning,” said Magnussen. “Whatever I do, I’m not going to go into anything if I know I can’t win, never again.”

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Magnussen’s F1 career peaked in his very first race in the sport, when he drove for McLaren

Magnussen made his F1 debut at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. In his first ever outing, he came second and many people thought that it was the start of something special.

Unfortunately for the Dane, he spent most of his career thereafter, in cars that couldn’t consistently fight for points. When asked if he would consider an offer from a midfield team in F1, he said, “No, I’ve been there, done that.”

“It was a great experience, I love that I was able to do it. I dreamed about Formula 1 ever since I was a little kid, so I really do feel privileged to be able to fulfill my dream and be there and actually have a career in Formula 1.”

“I was there for seven years and I enjoyed it most of the time, but sporting-wise, as an athlete it wasn’t rewarding enough to be in the position I was in,” the former McLaren driver said.

“It’s really good to be here (in USA) and have that spark back. You can go into every weekend and you can smell blood, and it just gives an extra sort of energy that I haven’t had in a while.”

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