Steiner: Magnussen the only driver Haas spoke to for vacant F1 seat

Although the team also had reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi on standby, Steiner and team owner Gene Haas had decided early on that they wanted to target Magnussen, who drove for the team for four seasons from 2017 to 2020.

Steiner called Magnussen last week, and the Dane immediately agreed to return. He then had to negotiate himself out of his Ganassi and Peugeot sportscar deals before formally signing a contract with Haas on Wednesday.

“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. “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.’”

Steiner says it was easy to conclude a multi-year deal with his former driver.

"I think you know a person pretty well after four years you work with him, and we didn't even have to discuss it.

“We said, ‘We're going to do this,’ it was both ways ‘Yes, we are going to do this.’ And that was that. It was pretty simplistic.

“There was no negotiation or anything. It's like I know what he wants, I know what we want, and it's the same thing. We are here to get better again, and we need him to help us to do that, like he did last time."

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1, is interviewed

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

Steiner remained confident that Magnussen would be able to sort out any contractual issues with Ganassi and Peugeot.

“I never thought it goes sideways," he said. " I always worked on it actively. I didn't speak with anybody else, with any other driver, I was just