BUDAPEST, Hungary — Kevin Magnussen said his priority is to stay in Formula One beyond 2024 but his immediate future is still being held up by Carlos Sainz‘s own contract situation.
On Thurdsay, Haas confirmed Magnussen — the team’s most experienced driver — will leave at the end of the season.
The American team has already signed Oliver Bearman and appears set to sign outgoing Alpine driver Esteban Ocon for the other seat, a move which could be announced ahead of next week’s Belgian Grand Prix.
“I hope I can stay in Formula One,” Magnussen said after confirming he’s talking to several teams.
“I think there’s some interesting seats available. I think all the teams by now in Formula One are interesting. The whole bunch. … You could look at any team and say they might be a top-five team next year. Everyone’s so tightly together. It feels like there’s still interesting opportunities.”
There are still seats available at Alpine, Williams and Sauber, but each appears waiting for Sainz to make his decision before committing elsewhere.
Sainz has been weighing up various options since February, when Ferrari confirmed it had signed Lewis Hamilton for next year.
Several sources have indicated to ESPN that Sainz might also be delaying things to assess whether opportunities open up at either Red Bull or Mercedes.
Magnussen had previously described Sainz as “the cork in the bottle” in terms of other drivers making their next decisions.
Magnussen hopes Sainz does not delay too much longer.
“He’s the big name available right now. All the teams that have available seats are trying to secure him,” Magnussen said.
“I think eventually some of the teams will become impatient. Or might come, I can’t say for sure. But he can’t keep holding it up. But I’m sure he won’t.
“He’s going to make the decision that is best for him. He’s rightly so considering very carefully where he’s going. Not that I’ve talked to him about it, but I can imagine that he is. That’s the situation. When that lands, then all the rest will pretty quickly sort itself out.”
On whether that’s left him in a frustrating position in terms of his own next steps, Magnussen said: “In a way, yes, but it’s natural. You have a race-winning Ferrari driver suddenly available. And actually available only to the bottom teams. So they’re obviously seeing a big opportunity. That makes sense to me.”
Magnussen is no stranger to an…
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