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Destination

Destination

Destination

Soldato
Joined
31 May 2009
Posts
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The McLaren reserve driver Kevin chas been dropped by the Formula One team, but the manner in which he was told has added insult to injury. The bad news came in an email. And it was not even from McLaren chief executive Ron Dennis, but his personal assistant. And it arrived on the Dane’s birthday.

Magnussen joined McLaren in 2010 as part of the team’s young driver programme and landed a full-time race seat last season. Partnered with Jenson Button he finished second on his debut at the Australian Grand Prix, but was forced to move aside after just one season following Fernando Alonso’s arrival from Ferrari.

Magnussen remained hopeful of returning to the grid for McLaren next year, but after it was announced Button would be retained and Alonso said he would see out his three-year contract, the Dane was left with nowhere to go.

Reports on Thursday claimed McLaren would not be renewing Magnussen’s contract at the end of the year, and he confirmed the news 24 hours later. “When the date of McLaren’s option on me passed, I was kind of waiting to hear from them,” said Magnussen, who turned 23 earlier this month. “I didn’t hear anything for a few days, and then, after about a week, when I saw an email from Ron’s [Dennis] personal assistant Justine [Bowen] in my inbox, I had an idea of what it might be. It was a short paragraph explaining that there would be nothing for me in the future. It arrived on my birthday, actually.”

Magnussen described his five-year stay with McLaren as “good and bad”, feeling he had done enough to keep his place in the race team after his rookie season last year.

Magnussen added: “By the end of the season I had reason to be hopeful that I was going to be retained as a race driver for 2015.

“In the end, the decision-making process dragged on all through the autumn and I only found out that I’d been dropped in mid-December, which left me no time to find an alternative drive. I was gutted, I admit. Not a great Christmas.”

Magnussen remains hopeful of being on the Formula One grid in 2016, but his options appear slim, with only one seat each at Lotus and Haas, the newly formed American team, available. “I’ve had good talks with a number of Formula One teams, and some of them are still going on,” Magnussen added.

“I have chances there. Formula One is still my aim. My ambitions haven’t changed. I know how to win races, I know how to win championships and I still intend to be Formula One world champion. That won’t change.”
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Probably better to get it by email than have old misery guts call you to his office to tell you the same. Would like to see him get a drive at one of the other teams, just to see how he can perform.
 
On face of it seems harsh, but one article I read, he asked to be released so he could sign other contracts as he wants to race he doesn't want to be a test driver, not that there's any testing in f1 anymore.
 
Glaucus said:
On face of it seems harsh, but one article I read, he asked to be released so he could sign other contracts as he wants to race he doesn't want to be a test driver, not that there's any testing in f1 anymore.
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Yep, he's best well out of McLaren. Far too many drivers seem content to stay a "test" or "reserve" driver for a big team in the hope that maybe, one day, they'll get a drive when in reality it never happens. Far better to seek out a drive with another team, no matter how big/small/good/bad, or even forget F1 altogether and do something else.
 
I thought it was a bit harsh when I first read it- but then I changed my mind about it after reading that it was done in the hope that he can find a race seat for next year.

Still, would have been nicer to tell him in person.
 
Everything I've heard so far is that it'll be Esteban Guitierrez. Although I do wonder who paid for Rossi to be in the Manor for most of the rest of the season. Perhaps Ferrari had something to do with it and he is being considered for Haas?
 
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