Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo reflect on getting back affection for F1 upon their return to the sport after a gap.
Having lost his Haas seat to youngsters, Magnussen went to America for some sportscar action. He had a set deal in place for a future until a late call from his former F1 team to replace Nikita Mazepin for the 2022 season and he duly obliged.
It was still a year out where he experienced not just sportscar but also had a IndyCar outing. While he was looking set for a bigger career in endurance racing, the Dane took the first opportunity to make his F1 return with renewed love for the sport.
He notes why he left as it was years where he didn’t the opportunity to perform after success in his junior career. “I think for me, it was different when I came back in a way,” said Magnussen. “Having been out of the sport – not completely, I was still racing but in sports cars, and I think just getting away from it, seeing it from the outside, thinking about it from the outside.
“And then coming back in. I think, in those years before that, maybe I’d lost a little bit of the… maybe a little bit of love for Formula 1. I think you get through the junior categories and it’s one thing, and you get to Formula 1 and it’s different. For some people, of course, they come in, you know, to Formula 1 after their junior career, and they just get straight into success there.
“But I didn’t, I had many years… well, I had six seasons or something before that break, of not winning at all. So, I think I’d maybe fallen out of love a little bit, and then kind of had that year out, missed it, and then came back and had a new sort of appreciation for it,” summed up Magnussen, his rival Ricciardo shared his thoughts as well.
The Australian lost his McLaren drive due to underperformance and got a chance to return to Red Bull as a simulator driver. He spent the first half of 2023 season on the sidelines and already was refreshed and had the yearn to make a comeback if given a chance.
And he got so at AlphaTauri. He has enjoyed the return and his a different thought process all together. “I think Kevin made… yeah, a lot of those feelings were felt for me as well,” said Ricciardo. “I think being away from it, yes, it’s really that. It should be the coolest thing that we do, right?
“But when you’ve done it your whole life, and obviously, when you go through… when you’re winning, it’s kind of easy, but when you’re not, obviously, you go through some other challenging moments where you can become a little bit frustrated with it. And then obviously, on a competitive side, your confidence takes a hit. So, then you’re kind of asking yourself more questions.
“And then, I think that also makes you question the love for it, then maybe you’re not as hungry and the other sides of the sport, in terms of preparation, and that and… yeah, I just, I think having the time off was, it gave me the answer of how much I do love it, ultimately. How much it means to me.
“And I think that’s also where, coming into now, I feel like I got a second chance, a second wind, where it’s like, okay, I want to make sure this is my one and only priority, I’m going to put all my energy into this. Because I just don’t want to walk away one day and be like, ‘could have done more’ or, ‘that career slipped a little bit out of my fingers’.
“I’d hate to feel that. So, yeah, gave me a new perspective, which is really cool. I’d say I’d recommend it to everyone! I mean, obviously everyone’s on their own kind of path but I can’t believe how much I’ve enjoyed the second half the season. It’s, it’s pretty crazy what six months can do,” summed up Ricciardo.
Here’s Kevin Magnussen on old and new specs
Here’s Nico Hulkenberg on updates needing to be better than being same
Here’s Guenther Steiner explaining on lack of updates
Here’s Daniel Ricciardo on not wanting to dictate happiness by non-wins
Here’s Daniel Ricciardo on time off helping him
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