Magnussen ready to make F1 return after ban: 'I can f**k s**t up now!'
F1 News
Kevin Magnussen has joked about 'f***ing s**t up' after his penalty point tally has reset to zero. After missing the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Haas driver returns to action this weekend. Magnussen had attained 12 penalty points within a 12-month period, but now his counter returns to zero.
Magnussen's future within F1 is very uncertain. He will not return to Haas after the winter break as the American team have already announced Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon for the 2025 Formula 1 season. Just two seats remain available, but Magnussen does not seem to be a candidate at Sauber, and Red Bull is expected to place an 'in-house' driver at VCARB.
Therefore, it seems likely the 31-year-old has just seven races left in his F1 career. Magnussen returns to zero penalty points. He sees the funny side to this. "You get punished and then you come back and you're like, ‘Oh, ready to f**k s**t up now!’ It's funny how that works, but in a way, it hasn't really affected me, I don't think," Magnussen said in Singapore.
Magnussen admitted the potential of a ban was annoying. "With those points, it was annoying to have the knowledge that the next time anything happens, there's a race ban. So it's nice to know that that's not a factor anymore. But I actually don't think it has affected me in how I've driven. I've really tried to just say, ‘Look, I need to crack on here and whatever happens happens’. In that moment in Monza, in all the battles I've had, I've never found myself thinking, ‘Oh, I need to be careful here because otherwise I get a race ban.’ In those races before the race ban, I didn't think about it," he added.
What did Magnussen do during his F1 ban?
His replacement driver, Bearman, impressed in Baku. The young Brit scored a point, albeit with the help of a crash between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. Magnussen reports he offered to stay involved, but was able to switch off.
"It was a weekend off. A little extra bonus weekend off with the family. In many ways, nice to have a little surprise holiday. I watched some of the race, I had it on in my gym on Sunday. I was kind of watching it with half an eye, still training, so I tried to switch my mind off. I took the opportunity to have a nice weekend off," he added.
"I let them know before the race that if there's anything, I'm here ready to help out with advice or input or whatever. But I switched off completely, so it was a nice weekend off for me. It was kind of a weird feeling. I thought, it's weird that I'm here and they're there, but I didn't think too much about it. It wasn't really on my mind," he concluded.