Kevin Magnussen has seen several ebbs and flows in his decade-long F1 career, but there was a time when he was ‘broke and depressed’ after spending all the money he had earned. This happened in the aftermath of his McLaren axing.
“I was completely broke. I paid a large portion of what I earned to my investor. And I was young and stupid, so I spent the rest,” said Magnussen to motorsport-total.
Without money, Magnussen was supported by his then-girlfriend and now-wife Louise Gjørup. “I lived in her small apartment. Basically, she took care of me, not the other way around,” he admitted.
Magnussen had made his debut for McLaren (and in F1) in 2014 and lost his place just a year later. Following that, his career went astray, and with no scope of returning to F1, the Danish driver got bailed out by Mercedes.
In 2015, Toto Wolff offered him a test in their DTM program in Spain. However, Magnussen had no money even to make travel arrangements. Once again, Gjørup brought respite to Magnussen by helping him make all the arrangements.
“I used her credit card to travel to this test, buy food, and fill up the rental car. She was really amazing,” he revealed.
It was great to hang out today with my old mate Kevin Magnussen in & around Roskilde, 20 miles (32km) west of Copenhagen, together with his wife Louise & my husband Angel. Kevin was born there & now lives there again, with Louise & their 2 lovely little daughters, Laura & Agnes. pic.twitter.com/FZ7QRizjQc
— Matt Bishop ️ (@TheBishF1) August 18, 2024
Magnussen managed to make a return to F1 in 2016 with Renault, but his time over there was brief. As per him, the culture at the Enstone-based outfit was ‘toxic’ which is why he made a quick jump to Haas in the following year.
The Dane managed to solidify his feet in F1 because of Haas, and he could argue that he had a fulfilling career because of his first four years with Haas. But, there was another setback in the waiting.
Magnussen’s career full of surprises
Magnussen saw a year-long stop in his time with Haas when Guenther Steiner brought an all-rookie lineup in Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin in 2021. But he was brought back after Haas decided to sack Mazepin the following year, because of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Following that, Magnussen became a mainstay on the grid with Haas again. But that chapter came to an end in Abu Dhabi earlier this month. Even then, Gjørup was there for him and whispered on the radio, “Congratulations, honey, on the final race, welcome home to me and the girls.”
At 32, Magnussen might never get another shot at F1. Despite this, he showed that he was a team man and even took penalty points in Saudi Arabia to aid his teammate Nico Hulkenberg and Haas to get a precious point.
The sacrifice led to a ban for Magnussen, a bullet he took for the Kannapolis-based squad. Unfortunately, that didn’t get him an extension in his time at F1, but Magnussen asserted that he has no “regrets”.
