Haas Team Chief Fires Warning To Kevin Magnussen Over Looming Contract Expiry

Guenther Steiner is not ready to extend Kevin Magnussen's contract yet.

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has fired a warning to Kevin Magnussen over his performance so far in the 2023 season. 

Steiner has explained that the Danish driver has five more races to prove his spot on the team for 2024. Magnussen originally joined the American team in 2017 and lost his seat on the team at the end of the 2020 season. He was then brought back last minute for the beginning of the 2022 season after the team cut ties with Russian driver Nikita Mazepin. 

In the first three races of the 2023 season, Magnussen has been out-qualified by his new teammate Nico Hulkenberg. During an interview with the Mirror, Steiner explained:

“Kevin is not in a happy place at the moment, being behind Nico.

“He is happy for the team, and he knows the car is there for him to be able to do it – he just needs to get it done.”

Magnussen's current contract with the team is due to expire at the end of the current year but Steiner is not ready to confirm a contract renewal just yet. He continued:

“In the end it is all down to performance but, at the moment, I’m pretty relaxed about it.

“I want to at least give another five races to see where we are and then start to think about it.”

Steiner has previously expressed his interest in signing Daniel Ricciardo after the Australian driver parted ways with the McLaren team at the end of the 2022 season. Ricciardo was not able to secure an appropriate permanent seat for 2023 but did sign with Red Bull as their third driver. 

The team chief is keen to confirm the 2024 line-up early on in the season this year. He added:

“Hopefully this year we can confirm what we are doing before the summer break because [a delay is] not nice from my point of view."