Haas F1 announced maybe its best news of the year or at least recent memory on Wednesday, making it official that Kevin Magnussen will be the team’s replacement for Nikita Mazepin.
The move brings Magnussen out of retirement from the series, who parted ways with the team following the 2020 year.
In five seasons with Haas, Magnussen recorded one of the team’s best seasons, finishing ninth in the points standings in 2018.
During his career in the tour, the Denmark native earned one podium in his F1 debut, but has yet to return to the top three steps.
Haas F1 is scheduled to attempt to participate in the upcoming testing session at Bahrain, but a shipping delay will force them to wait until the afternoon session on Thursday to put the car on track.
“I can confirm our freight arrived late last night to the circuit in Bahrain,” a Haas spokesperson told F1.com. “This delay will impact our programme but we are targeting being out on track for the second session Thursday afternoon with Pietro Fittipaldi driving the VF-22.”
Fittipaldi was originally tabbed as the replacement driver for the year, but the team opted to go with Magnussen instead.
The move sets the 20-driver grid for the series that is set to race each event.
Welcome back to the grid, K-Mag 👋#F1 pic.twitter.com/3L7elFf7KE
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 9, 2022
The 2022 season is scheduled to begin with the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, March 20. The race is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. CT on ESPN.
