Kevin Magnussen has shed light on his time at McLaren, which was limited to just one year as a Formula 1 driver. According to the Dane, the majority of the McLaren board wanted him in the car for the 2015 season, if not 2016, but the majority shareholders and unfulfilled promises from his supporters led him to choose a different path.
In 2014, Kevin Magnussen made his Formula 1 debut for the Woking-based team at the Australian Grand Prix, where he immediately impressed with a second-place finish. This made the Dane the first rookie since Jacques Villeneuve in 1996 to finish on the podium in his debut. However, he was replaced by Fernando Alonso for the 2015 season. According to Magnussen, the majority of the McLaren board wanted not Jenson Button, but him as the Spaniard’s teammate.
Internal Division
Magnussen scored points in 12 of the 19 races in his debut year, accumulating a total of 55 points. His teammate Button, the 2009 world champion, finished three places higher in the championship with 126 points. Despite this, says Magnussen, seven of the nine board members were in favor of his staying. The objectors were Mansour Ojjeh and Shaikh Mohammed Bin Essa Al Khalifa, the majority shareholders of the team.”Their judgment greatly affected his state of mind. “I became depressed in 2015. I’m not ashamed to admit that. I lived to race, but I wasn’t racing,” he tells Motor Sport Magazine. “Together, Mohammed and Mansour held a majority stake, so they used that power to overrule everyone. Including CEO Ron Dennis, who had voted for me.”
False Promises
In 2015, Magnussen was appointed as a reserve driver. “Which essentially meant nothing,” says Magnussen. “But Ron said: ‘Trust me, you’ll be racing for us in 2016, or maybe even before the end of this season.’ And honestly, I think he was sincere. That was really his plan for me.”
Eventually, Magnussen ended up in the car earlier than planned: at the opening race of the season, he replaced Fernando Alonso, who had been injured in a testing accident. However, it was not a success, especially at the place where he had made a dream debut a year earlier: the new Honda power unit failed on the way to the starting grid in Melbourne.
When the team did not keep its promises, Magnussen left McLaren behind. In 2016, he raced for Renault, but he could have just as easily raced for another team. “When Williams contacted my then-manager Dorte Riis Madsen in 2016 about the possibility of racing for them, I discussed it with race director Éric Boullier. He said: ‘No, stay with us, you’ll be racing with us next season alongside Fernando Alonso.’ And honestly, I think he was sincere too. Reassured by both Ron and Éric, I did not take up the Williams option.”
