"I’m not here to take care of young kids": Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen on prospect of Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman replacing Nico Hulkenberg
Kevin Magnussen said that he does not wish to babysit "young kids" when asked about the prospect of Oliver Bearman becoming his teammate at Haas. Speaking to onsite media in Miami, the Danish driver hoped for a competitive and strong teammate like Nico Hulkenberg for 2025 and beyond.
Despite the Ferrari junior driver’s strong drive in Jeddah, Magnussen preferred to have a consistent teammate who delivered like his current one. Hoping the German would drive with him in 2025, the Dane wished his teammate the best for his future with Audi Sauber.
Currently, many are in line for Hulkenberg’s seat, including Oliver Bearman, Felipe Drugovich and Valtteri Bottas. Asked whether Bearman would make an interesting teammate at Haas after his impressive drive in Jeddah, Kevin Magnussen said:
"I’m not really here to take care of young kids. I do that at home. Hopefully, the guy we’ll have in the car will be competent and professional and consistent, like Nico has been. We’ll see if I’ll be in the other car."
Asked if he was talking to other teams across the grid, Magnussen replied:
"Not concrete talks, but when you’re part of the team, you’re talking all the time on this, so I think more focus on the season than anything else."
The 31-year-old continued:
"Honestly, I thought it would be me and Nico again next year, but I thought that would be likely. Obviously, he’s taken the opportunity with Sauber and Audi, which I wish him all the best with that."
Kevin Magnussen overviews the Miami GP weekend and Haas VF24’s potential
Kevin Magnussen believes that the Haas VF24 is yet to unleash its full potential. He felt that the team had a strong platform to develop on and hoped for better performance to extract in the future. The 31-year-old felt that the sprint format made the weekend better, unlike most of his peers.
Talking about the Haas VF24, Magnussen said:
"I’ve been here for many years now, and there’s always been some potential that we haven’t seen to really exploit. I feel like now maybe we’re building a better foundation to go and exploit that potential that I feel we have."
Commenting on the second sprint weekend on the calendar and its revised format, the Haas driver said:
"I like the Sprint weekends, honestly. I think it’s been made more interesting this year with the open Parc Fermé after the Sprint. I enjoy them. More driving, less talking."
Kevin Magnussen has scored only one point so far for Haas this season, while his teammate has scored four points for the team. The American team is currently placed seventh in the Constructors' championship, three places further up from where they finished last year.