Kevin Magnussen reveals he contacted Red Bull for Daniel Ricciardo's seat, was offered Toro Rosso spot instead

Former Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen has revealed that he reached out to Red Bull in 2018 after Daniel Ricciardo signed with Renault for the following season. Magnussen said Red Bull had already decided to promote Pierre Gasly, and instead offered him Gasly’s Toro Rosso seat.

The new insights come courtesy of Magnussen’s recent book “All or Nothing”, chronicling his experiences throughout his F1 career.

Kevin Magnussen joined the F1 grid in 2014 with McLaren after spending a year as their simulator and development driver. He, however, lost his seat at the end of the year to Fernando Alonso.

In his debut race for McLaren at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, he qualified fourth behind the dominant Mercedes duo and Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull. On race day, he held off team-mate Jenson Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to cross the finish line in third. He was later bumped up to second after Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification.

After spending 2015 on the sidelines, the Dane returned to F1 with Renault in 2016, and joined Haas F1 the following year. After four years with Haas, Magnussen, along with teammate Romain Grosjean, lost his seat at the end of the 2020 season.

Magnussen is considered by many to be an underrated driver who fell victim to bad luck. Although he showed glimpses of brilliance throughout his time in F1, he never had the car to fully demonstrate his abilities.

---

Kevin Magnussen accuses Nico Hulkenberg of creating a "media circus” over their on-track incident

Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg had a public spat in the media pen after the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix. Hülkenberg, annoyed at Magnussen for forcing him on the grass during the race, sarcastically commended the Dane during his interview. Magnussen retorted, saying: "Suck my b***s, mate".

Captured on camera, their bickering went viral and created a media buzz around the two drivers. In his book “All or Nothing”, Kevin Magnussen writes that he doesn’t understand why Hülkenberg took their on-track incident so personally. He then accuses the German of creating a “media circus” by confronting him on a live interview.

Known for speaking his mind, Kevin Magnussen was often seen by many as rude and unfriendly. In an interview with Autosport earlier this year, Magnussen said that the incident gave him a bad reputation that became “annoying”.

“This thing with Hulkenberg has stuck with me, and it’s something that is becoming almost annoying to be talking about.”

“There are other things that I’ll remember. That one thing has gained a lot of attention, but it’s not something I will remember from my F1 career.”

Meanwhile, Magnussen has also revealed that Williams was keen on signing him to drive for them in 2022. He, however, refused as he “didn’t want to drive for the slowest team, alongside the slowest driver”.