Haas’ Kevin Magnussen said it is a shame to see his former Formula 1 team McLaren in a situation like they are in, when they could be much ahead in the championship standings.
The Dane started his F1 career with the Woking-based team in the 2014 season after which he was demoted to a reserve role in 2015 when Fernando Alonso was hired to partner with Jenson Button.
Magnussen then moved to Renault for the 2016 season and then to Haas where he is competing currently. Having had the chance to race for a world championship-winning outfit, the Dane felt bad for his former outfit.
“I would say I’m quite surprised, as well, especially with McLaren,” he started. “I think when I was there it was very clear that it’s a great team, a very big team and yeah, beautiful team when I was there.
“I’ve lost touch with them, I don’t talk to them any more, I don’t know the problems they’re facing at the moment but it’s a shame, for sure. I’m happy for us that we can compete with them and beat them at times but for sure, it’s not where they belong.”
Having parted ways with Honda last year, the team’s results with Renault hasn’t seen huge improvements despite them having scored good points so far in the current season to sit fifth in the standings – 13 ahead of Haas in sixth.
Despite the points gap, the Haas has looked in a much better shape than McLaren with Magnussen scoring all the 27 points for the American outfit, sitting 10th in the drivers’ standings – only five behind Fernando Alonso.
“It makes me proud, for sure [of Haas’ efforts],” he said. “It’s an impressive thing for such a small team to be competing against the likes of Renault and McLaren, beating Williams and even Force India is quite a bit bigger than us.
“So yeah, it’s something to be proud of and it’s a good job from the little team that we’re in.” While the American team is seeing an upward trend, McLaren has been facing tremendous pressure on and off the track with every passing weekend.