Magnussen happy at "stable" Haas team

Kevin Magnussen says that he is finally having fun in Formula 1 after a "pretty horrific" start to his career. The Dane joined the grid in 2014 with McLaren but was dropped at the end of the season to make way for Fernando Alonso.

After spending a year on the sidelines, he returned in 2016 with Renault who re-joined the grid as a works team. However, he also spent just a single year with the resurging French team before making a move to Haas. The 25-year-old has been the American team's star performer this year, scoring 45 points so far.

Speaking about his first three years involved in F1, Magnussen said they "were pretty horrific and very unstable with different teams and losing my seat. It's really good fun, the most fun I've had in Formula 1, and the most competitive and kind of honoured feeling I've had."

"I think it just shows the quality that the team is made of," he continued. "They are able to make decisions and they are able to commit and take directions, it's a real strength of the team. They don't have any fights at the top or differences of opinions. With me, they agreed that I was the kind of driver they would like to commit to and they went ahead and did it."

When he joined McLaren at the start of 2014, the team was in a spot of bother as it was clear it had dropped down the pecking order despite a double podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix. Magnussen admitted that there was huge pressure on his rookie shoulders.

"It was a very unstable beginning to my Formula 1 career," he said. "I had great momentum before I got to Formula 1 and I lost it once I arrived. The team that I got there with was very unstable and the management were fighting. The pressure was massive as we knew it was all between me and Jenson, we started making mistakes, and you start being tense and not performing well."

Having impressed in the opening half of the 2018 season, a contract extension should be imminent for Magnussen. But he is not worried about that right now: "I don't think there's any rush and I don't think it will take too long. It's not something I'm stressed about."

Fergal Walsh