Kevin Magnussen Q&A: Miami Grand Prix

Formula 1 heads to the Magic City for the newest addition to the calendar – the Miami Grand Prix. Have you visited the city before, what do you know about Miami and what are you looking forward to this week?

“I have visited Miami quite a few times. Last year I competed in the IMSA championship in America and got to spend a bit of time there. I was also on holiday in Miami when this job came about again! I’m looking forward to going back there, I think there’s a real buzz around the race, so it’s going to be great.”

 

The circuit is a 5.41km street track, with the Hard Rock Stadium at its center and numerous elevation changes between Turns 13 and 16. Can you take us through the highlights and overtaking opportunities through the course of a lap? 

“There’s two big overtaking opportunities with these two very long straights. The track then has a good mix of high-speed and very low-speed sections, from T4 to T11 is high-speed and from T11 to T16 is super low-speed so there’s a good mix and with two long straights to overtake, hopefully it will make for a good race.”

We’re a few races into the season now – do you feel fully acclimatized back to being a Formula 1 driver, and what do you make of this new era of racing so far? 

“I think there’s been a positive change with these new cars in terms of racing each other and I’m certainly enjoying it, it feels like there’s a lot more room to push and attack. I feel acclimatized, I’m still working as hard as I can on getting back to full fitness, but I’ve made some very good progress and am getting there.”

 

The first five races of the season will see Haas F1 Team race across four different continents – how are you keeping fresh and focused and are you looking forward to getting into a rhythm when we head back to Europe? 

“I’ve been looking forward to going back to these tracks. I feel like every race so far has been a real joy and I look forward to every race, whether it’s in Europe or outside. It’s good though to come back to some of these tracks that I’ve got more experience with – a lot of good memories. In Europe, some of the tracks are where I used to race at in junior categories as well, so there’s always good memories and a good atmosphere. Silverstone and Monza, those types of tracks are iconic and I’m really looking forward to going back to Spa with fans there as well.”