Haas only spoke to Magnussen over vacant F1 seat

Haas Formula 1 boss Gunther Steiner says Kevin Magnussen was the only driver he held talks with over replacing Nikita Mazepin for this season.

Magnussen makes a shock return to F1 this year after Haas terminated Mazepin’s contract with immediate effect, rejoining the team whom he drove for from 2017 to 2020.

Steiner revealed he contacted Magnussen last week after Haas team owner Gene Haas expressed his interest in trying to convince the Dane to consider coming back to F1.

While Magnussen was contracted to both Chip Ganassi and Peugeot for 2022, he agreed to sign a multi-year deal with Haas to accept the opportunity to return to F1.

“When what happened, happened, we parted company with Nikita, I was discussing with Gene who to put in the car, who’s available,” said Steiner, as quoted by Motorsport.com. “The same old story, ups and downs, and lefts and rights.

“Kevin’s name came up, and Gene said, ‘Do you think Kevin would come back?’ And I said ‘I have no idea, I don’t know, but I can call him up.’ And I called him up, and he said, ‘Yeah, I’m interested.’”

Magnussen admitted he had been surprised when Haas approached him, but was clear the opportunity to return to F1 was too good to refuse.

Having left F1 at the end of 2020, due what Magnussen felt was a lack of motivation, he had accepted that a return to the series in the future was unlikely.

“I kind of truly accepted that F1 was a closed chapter, but then of course I saw Mazepin was out of Haas,” Magnussen said, as quoted by Motorsport Week.

“I didn’t think I had a chance to go in there because I still don’t bring a lot other than just my driving skills to a team.

“So I thought that it was still not going to be a possibility, then Gunther called me, and it was a big