Red Bull had talks with Danish driver Kevin Magnussen

In an interview with the Danish outlet BT, former Haas driver Kevin Magnussen announced that he had spoken to Red Bull about a possible seat for the 2019 Formula 1 season. Magnussen, who is currently driving in the US in the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, was fired from Haas after the 2020 season. The Dane drove for the American team for four years between 2017 and 2020.

Kevin Magnussen’s talks with Red Bull

However, Magnussen could have chosen a different career path if the talks with Red Bull had worked out. The Dane announced that he had talks with the energy drink company’s team after Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull for Renault for the 2019 season.

According to Magnussen, Red Bull had already selected Pierre Gasly to replace the Australian. At Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri), however, there was a free seat.

In an interview with BT, the Dane said:

“When we spoke to them, it quickly became clear that they already had a candidate for the Red Bull seat. However, they did talk about an opportunity at Toro Rosso. They haven’t proposed a contract to me yet, but it was clearly an option ”

Despite the opportunity to join the Red Bull family, Magnussen decided to remain loyal to Haas. The Dane had a brilliant 2018 season, finishing just under fifth behind Renault in the constructors’ championship. Haas was the fourth-best team on the grid for most of the season. However, a disastrous start to the season at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix made the difference between fourth and fifth place in the table. Haas had driven their cars to P5 and P6 at Albert Park, but both cars suffered terrible pit stops that resulted in the team giving up the race.

Commenting on his decision not to join the Red Bull family, Magnussen said:

“However, we did not use this opportunity because I felt very comfortable at Haas and I believe that we can continue the upward trend that we began in 2018.”

Red Bull then selected Thai-British driver Alex Albon for the vacant Toro Rosso seat. Albon was later promoted to Red Bull seat from Gasly in the middle of the 2019 season after disastrous performances. Magnussen’s career could have been very different today, and maybe he would still be in sport.

However, Haas never showed the same pace after the 2018 season, and after two years of fighting as a backmarker, team boss Günther Steiner fired both drivers in favor of two rookies for the 2021 season.

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