"Yes, of course it hasn't hurt him"

Guenther Steiner thinks it did Kevin Magnussen good to spend a year racing outside of Formula 1. In 2021 he made his debut in IndyCar and competed in IMSA, as teammate of Dutchman Renger van der Zande. According to Steiner, Magnussen has returned to Formula 1 as a better, more complete driver.

"Yes, of course it [racing in the United States] hasn't hurt him," the Haas F1 team boss judges to Formula1.com. Steiner argues that Magnussen has changed as a result of his outing outside the pinnacle of motorsport. "Obviously, he matured"

According to Steiner, when a driver leaves Formula 1, he begins to realize what he has lost. "Making it back in is like something… which I think he didn’t expect to do."

Magnussen's dream comeback

The F1 career of the once talented Magnussen seemed to go out like a nightmare when last season his contract at Haas F1 was not renewed, but 2022 means a new chapter and what a one. In Bahrain, he managed to score an immediate fifth place at the American race stable and in Saudi Arabia he finished on P9. With that, Haas F1 has now managed to score 12 points, while it remained pointless in 2021.