RONSPEAK TEA!!!!

Someone who is smarter than me should post the whole thing:

Credit goes to the twitter poster who read KMag's book!

Kevin Magnussen was supposed to test an F1 car in 2008 when he was 16 years old, but his father wouldn’t allow it, as such young drivers in F1 cars was unheard of… then.

Kevin Magnussen once drunkenly, got a matching tattoo with all his friends, of a camel… on his toe.

Kevin Magnussen was hired as a McLaren junior by Martin Whitmarsh, to whom he credits his F1 career.

Kevin Magnussen was in the McLaren junior program with Alex Albon, Nyck De Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne.

Kevin Magnussen was a McLaren testdriver in 2013 alongside Stoffel Vandoorne. They worked the simulator, but their ideas were often not used because it would make the F1
drivers look bad, if the drivers in the simulators could do a better job at solving the problems.

Kevin Magnussen says at McLaren, they had to fill out a form every morning, about how they were doing physically, mentally and detailing their energy levels. They also had physical tests and had to share photos of all of their meals.

Kevin Magnussen had a deal to drive for Force India in 2014, made by Martin Whitmarsh. Ron Dennis cancelled the deal and made Kevin a driver for McLaren. Ron Dennis fired Martin Whitmarsh the day after.

Kevin Magnussen got an additional $200,000 extra in his podium bonus, when his P3 at the 2014 Australian GP was upgraded to 2nd, after Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification.

Kevin Magnussen says Jenson Button was, with his huge experience, excellent in reacting to the circumstances, that he was an expert in discipline, got the absolute best out
of what was within his reach, and skilled in exploiting any small opportunity.

Kevin Magnussen says there was a bad mood in McLaren for the entire 2014 season, because they felt they were a top team who should be meddling up front, and that Jenson Button was the only one who realized the reality of the situation.

Once, Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button were out partying, and Jenson convinced Kevin when you are a part of a British team, you had to have peed in an old red phone booth after a night of drinking. And there was no way out of it.

In 2014, Kevin Magnussen received interest from Williams to replace Felipe Massa, but was told by McLaren that they intended to keep him. Team boss Éric Boullier said to Kevin: “Don’t look elsewhere! You’re gonna stay here.”

Kevin Magnussen says at the Board of Directors meeting, he received 7 votes (incl Ron Dennis) to Jenson Button’s 2 votes. But the 2 votes for Jenson were by Mumtalakat Holding Company, a Bahrain government owned investorsfund, and Mansour Ojjeh, who combined owned 50% of McLaren.

Kevin Magnussen believes Mumtalakat Holding Company voted for Jenson Button to spite Ron Dennis after a feud between the two, because they voted after Ron had voted for Kevin, and then discussed amongst themselves before casting their vote.

Ron Dennis told Kevin Magnussen that he would be back in the McLaren seat for 2016, or even mid-2015, if Jenson Button didn’t perform. “Trust me, Kevin,” he said.
In 2015, when Kevin Magnussen wasn’t racing in F1, he wanted to travel to Japan to race in Super Formula or IndyCar, anything to keep himself going. But Ron Dennis declined and would not let him. Kevin was not even allowed to drive the McLaren simulator.

Kevin Magnussen was offered a seat in Formula E but turned it down after Ron Dennis assured him he would be back in the McLaren seat.

Kevin Magnussen says there was one person at McLaren who really tried to help him: Chief communications officer, Matt Bishop. Kevin says he is a fantastic person and became a really good friend, who tried to guide him through the difficult period.

Kevin Magnussen says one time after a night of drinking, he got his nose broken after being mistaken for someone else. Kevin called Matt Bishop who was always there for him, he helped and protected Kevin against McLaren, by forwarding the incident.

Kevin Magnussen tried a speedwaybike which he was not allowed to by McLaren. He broke his hand and in his contract it said he could only receive medical attention by McLaren’s doctors, so he called Matt Bishop who helped him again and it was explained as a mountainbike accident.

Kevin Magnussen was fired by McLaren on his 23rd birthday, October 5th 2015.
Toto Wolff offered Kevin Magnussen a test in one of the Mercedes cars in DTM. After the test, they offered him a seat in DTM for 2016.

When Kevin Magnussen joined Renault in 2016, Cyril Abiteboul told him he was the future of Renault. But already early in the season, Cyril would walk past Kevin without acknowledging him, and he would never talk to Kevin on race weekends or even say hi.

Kevin Magnussen says Jolyon Palmer was a racing driver like an academic education, he studied and analyzed everything. He knew the car inside and out like an engineer, but didn’t have confidence in his own capabilities, driving more with his brain than his heart.

Kevin Magnussen says internally, Renault didn’t think very highly of Jolyon Palmer, and they didn’t just expect Kevin to beat him, but to demolish him. Sporting Director Alan Permane demanded Kevin’s lap times to be half a second faster than Jolyon’s.

In August 2016, Renault added a new upgrade to create more grip in corners. Kevin Magnussen had a difficult time figuring it out, but was not allowed to change back to the
old specification. The first time he had to use it, was at Spa, which led to his huge 47G crash.

Kevin Magnussen was offered a 1-year renewal with Renault, but he was also offered a 2-year contract with Haas in their first meeting. Guenther Steiner told Kevin what would be his salary, Kevin said he wanted the double and Guenther agreed straight away.

Frédéric Vasseur and Alan Permane told Kevin Magnussen not to sign with Haas, saying it was a “shit team”.

After Kevin Magnussen told Frédéric Vasseur that he would turn down Renault’s 1-year deal and move to Haas, he got a call from Cyril Abiteboul saying they had chosen Jolyon Palmer for the next season.

Kevin Magnussen said Cyril Abiteboul was like a schoolboy, wanting to make it seem like he had turned Kevin down. Kevin told him: “I broke up with you first.” Cyril then sent out a press release, saying Renault prefered Jolyon Palmer over Kevin.

Kevin Magnussen said in an interview that Renault had offered his seat to almost anyone and joked even the Pope got an offer. Renault threatened to sue him over that comment, and Kevin got a written warning to not discuss it further.

Kevin Magnussen says Haas was simple and no-bullshit. It was much more about racing and less about money and politics. They had Guenther Steiner and Gene Haas, and that was it.

Kevin Magnussen says Haas had a stop crying and just drive attitude, which meant Kevin raced with the same seat for 4 years without ever changing it, despite him sitting terribly and it not fitting him.

Kevin Magnussen doesn’t understand why Nico Hulkenberg took their ontrack incident so personal, that Nico had to interrupt Kevin in an interview live on air to confront him about it, creating a media circus. Kevin says Nico hasn’t spoken to him since.

Kevin Magnussen sees the later incidents between him and Charles Leclerc or Fernando Alonso as results of the fabricated “bad boy” reputation, after the Nico Hulkenberg incident

Kevin Magnussen fondly recalls being voted Driver of the Day in Russia 2016, and being rated number one in the official F1 power rankings after the two first races in 2018, despite both races being won by Sebastian Vettel.

Seems like he knows he won't be going back to F1. 

And this bit is laughable imho ...


:cough:BULLSHIT:cough:

Neither Vandoorne nor KMag were geniuses in the car, or they'd still be in F1. Magnussen was lucky Haas existed. Without them, he'd have been gone a long time ago.

Agree with all of that, and to me that makes his talk of the team 'ignoring their suggestions because it would make the F1 drivers look bad' seem all the more clueless imho. It's much more likely to me that the team ignored their suggestions because they already had a solid plan in place that hinged on what the actual drivers wanted and what the engineers wanted. Had they been the actual F1 drivers, I'm sure the team would have moved heaven and earth to accomodate their suggestions & make them more comfortable in the car.

Ron was a slithering pygmy amongst men.

Pot calling the kettle black IMHO. 

Forgetting how good they were in their first two seasons? Haas was the most competitive new team in F1 history. 

A true gauge of their talent will be the next two seasons. 

Not to mention that Phos-Gene hasn't been investing in the team the last couple of years due to the 2022 tech changes. Remember he's also the money man at SHR in NASCAR and went from one of the top teams in 2020 to a mid pack team (for the most part) last year. Only Harvick had a decent season (5th in points at season's end), but even then no wins was nothing special to write home about given that Kevin won 9 races in '20.

I think you're over thinking it a bit. We don't know the inner workings nor the funding structure within Haas.  In their first five seasons of existence Haas and Renault were side-by-side in the constructors championship. Clearly that is a pot calling the kettle black situation. The last two years Haas has put all their effort into the new car. Which is the right thing to do.