Kevin Magnussen: German Grand Prix Q&A

While your teammate has reverted back to the Melbourne aero spec, you raced with the current aero spec at Silverstone and you’ll run the latest round of updates to the Haas VF-19 at the Hockenheimring. What are your expectations for your updated car in Germany?

“We’re still looking to experiment and learn as much as possible with the issues we’re having. Hopefully, the upgrades we bring to Hockenheim will give us not only more answers, but also more performance.” 

With back-to-back races in Germany and Hungary effectively concluding the first half of the 2019 season, how important is it to gain some momentum and a further understanding of recent issues before the FIA-mandated summer shutdown?

“It would be pretty awesome if we could finish off the first half of the season on a high. But, obviously, we need to go in with realistic expectations and keep focused on our objective, which is to try and learn and understand in order to be able to perform at a high level as soon as possible.”

The subject of bringing back refueling during Formula One races has seemingly gained some more momentum as FIA president Jean Todt has recommended it as a way to potentially improve the racing. What are your thoughts on refueling and how would it affect what you do behind the wheel, specifically as the car stays relatively light since it never really runs a heavy fuel load?

“I think refueling would be very good. I think it would have some positive effect on tires. It would make the racing closer between cars. It would be more fun for the drivers and more challenging in the races because the cars would be faster with the lighter fuel load.”

A new set of regulations will debut in 2021, but they’re still being formulated. Is there anything specific pertaining to the 2021 regulations that you would like to see enacted?

“I think refueling is a big one, but also I think it would be great to maintain some fast cars that can follow each other easily. Maybe they’re producing more of the aerodynamics and downforce from the bottom of the car, from the floor. Also, more equal resources for the teams to have closer competition between the front and back of the field.”

You can race any Formula One car from any era. What is it and why?

“I would say the McLaren MP4-4. It’s the most dominant racecar of all time. I think it’s a beautiful racecar, raced by (Ayrton) Senna and (Alain) Prost. They just looked so light, so slick, so low, and they sounded phenomenal.”