Steiner: K-Mag ‘realised what he lost’ in year away from F1

Now he has returned to Formula 1, Guenther Steiner thinks Kevin Magnussen has matured and realised what he missed out on in his year away.

Magnussen was drafted back to Haas with less than a fortnight until the start of the season after Nikita Mazepin was removed from the team, having previously admitted his time in Formula 1 was likely to be over as he did not want to return to an uncompetitive car.

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But Haas have created a car in the VF-22 that is capable of competing high up the field, with the Dane having made Q3 in both races so far and taking an impressive P5 finish in Bahrain.

He pursued other series of motorsport in 2021, having raced in sports cars and teamed up with father and former McLaren and Stewart driver Jan in the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year.

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Steiner said it was good for him to have kept racing last year, and his time away from the top tier has left him more rounded as a result.

“Yes, of course it hasn’t hurt him,” Steiner said of Magnussen’s IndyCar and sports car racing last year, quoted by Formula1.com.

“Obviously, he matured, he was out of Formula 1 and when you are out of Formula 1 you just realise what you lost and making it back in is like something… which I think he didn’t expect to do.

“He’s just more mature, he’s got a younger team-mate that he can be a bit of a father figure to. He’s very young himself, we