Kevin Magnussen’s returning year to Formula 1 was largely a successful one, with the Danish driver having finished ahead of now ex-team-mate Mick Schumacher in 2022.
Magnussen was brought back into Haas only a matter of days before the start of the 2022 F1 season, after Nikita Mazepin was dropped from the team following the start of the conflict in Eastern Europe.
The Danish driver settled back into Formula 1 with a bang, after claiming fifth place at the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
He went on to claim further points finishes in Saudi Arabia, Imola, Austria, Silverstone, and the Circuit of the Americas, whilst Schumacher only claimed points finishes at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone.
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With that in mind, Schumacher has been dropped by the American side for 2023, with the experienced Nico Hulkenberg having been brought into the outfit.
The German hasn’t raced in F1 full-time since 2019, meaning it might take him some time to get fully up to speed.
Interestingly, Magnussen and Hulkenberg have “never been close”, with the pair having actually been involved in an incident at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Following an on-track incident at the Hungaroring, Hulkenberg had a few words to say to Magnussen after the race in the media pen, to which Magnussen responded by saying “suck my balls, honey”.
Whilst being alongside Hulkenberg might not be ideal for the Dane, he has admitted that he’s simply focused on helping the team improve.
“At the end of the day, I hope it’s going to be good for the team,” Magnussen told GPFans.
“I’m looking forward to working with Nico.
“At the same time, I really enjoyed working with Mick and getting to know him.
“What I’m focused on doing is doing the same that I always do, is give my best to the team and try and help as much as I can to move us forward. That’s a standard answer, I know, but that’s really how it is.”
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Speaking more on his relationship with his new team-mate, Magnussen admitted that the pair actually “caught up” with each other in Bahrain earlier in the year, with the duo not actually having any “beef” between them.
“Yeah, we’ve never been close, either in the past or anything, but in Bahrain, we met in the airport and caught up for the first time,” revealed the Danish driver.
“A lot of people think we have some beef going on, but we really don’t.”