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Haas has just announced that it will retain both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg for the 2024 season, as the pair provided “invaluable feedback”.
Haas F1 Team will retain both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg for the 2024 season, as the team has finally reached the stability it aspired to. Team Principal Gunther Steiner told Formula 1: “I think it’s safe to say that we’ve had an extremely solid driver pairing this season in Formula 1 and ultimately there was no reason to look to change that moving forward.”
The duo is amongst the most experienced on the grid, a quality that Steiner has highly appreciated during the season: “We’ve had to tackle our issues this season with regards to the VF-23, we don’t hide from that, but we’ve been extremely fortunate to have had two drivers whose feedback is invaluable in assisting our engineering objectives.
“Kevin and Nico gelled well right from the get-go and together they’ve both scored points, and in particular, Nico has excelled in qualifying – getting into Q3 on six occasions.
“Of note is also just how much energy both drivers bring to the table, they’ve been fantastic not only in terms of their engagement within the team, but critically, in our partner activations and fan facing opportunities.
“Kevin and Nico are clearly enjoying their time in the sport, they both have mature heads on their shoulders, and they fundamentally understand what it is we’re asking of them.
“In turn, now it’s down to us as a team to look ahead to 2024 and ensure we have a car that’s capable of scoring points consistently.”
Magnussen: “Very happy”
Kevin Magnussen rejoined the team in 2022 after a two-year hiatus from F1 and in 2024 will compete for its seventh season at Haas. Commenting on the news, he thanked the team for their commitment: “I’m obviously very happy to see my relationship with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team extended once again. My return in 2022 had been unexpected but was filled with numerous highlights, and although this season hasn’t gone quite as we’d hoped, we’ve still managed to get into the points and shown potential in the package we have.
“There’s plenty of racing remaining in 2023 and we’ve got a lot of work to do to continue to understand the VF-23 – that learning can be applied into the 2024 car. My thanks, as always, go to Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner for giving me the opportunity to keep racing in the sport I love.”
Hulkenberg: “Focus on racing”
On his side, Nico Hulkenberg returned to the sport full-time for the first time since 2019 but immediately proved to have not lost any form. The German hence will keep the focus on racing for the future: “It’s nice to get things sorted early for next season to just keep the focus on racing and improving performance. I enjoy being part of the team and share Gene and Guenther’s passion for it.
We’re competing in a very tight midfield and I’m looking forward to building on what we’ve done together so far and taking that forward into 2024.”
Feature Image Credit: @HaasF1Team on Twitter
