Drawing on his experience in 2015, Kevin Magnussen does not fear the physical impact of this long period without driving for the pilots.
A few weeks after filing the bitumen in Barcelona during the traditional winter tests, the F1 drivers found themselves forced to stop due to the coronavirus crisis. The current trend is for the season to open in July, after four full months without the slightest rolling. If the confinement has allowed some to work their physique more than usual, the accumulation of laps is missing from the meter with this truce longer than an off-season and to which the pilots are not used.
Some like Antonio Giovinazzi, Romain Grosjean or Carlos Sainz believe that the first turns of the wheel will cause their share of suffering, especially for the neck. However, the opinion is not unanimously shared and Kevin Magnussen takes the opposite view, he who has already had such an experience. “It doesn’t scare me, I would even say that it is exciting, in a way”explains the pilot Haas at the microphone of Sky Sports. “We have been stopped for a long time now. But I know you never really forget [comment piloter]. We don’t let ourselves rust that much. We can be a little, but not that much. “
Starting out in Formula 1 in 2014, Magnussen experienced the throes of the year without flying when McLaren did not keep it for the following season. He then returned to his home Renault in 2016, after having only been able to complete two runs in other categories in the previous twelve months. “I had a full season outside of a racing car in 2015, and it was truly outside of any racing car”, he insists. I did two days of testing, one in DTM and one in LMP1, but nothing in Formula 1. During the winter tests in 2016, when I returned to F1, it didn’t take me much laps. I felt like I was away from the car only for a normal winter. We resume quickly, and it’s the same for everyone. It’s exciting, and it will be good to be back. “
The Dane hopes that F1 will manage to put in place all the complex protocols that must be in order to allow it to organize the start of the season in Austria in July, on Red bull ring. A delicate task, but one that inspires confidence at this stage. “It’s going to be a big job for it to be done”, underlines Magnussen. “But whatever it takes to get back into racing, I’m ready to do it. We have to do everything we can to make sure we do it safely for everyone. It’s not ideal but it’s better than not running for a long time. If we are united, I think we can do it. We’ll see what steps there are and what we need to do, but from what I’ve heard there’s a lot already and it’ll be very different. I’m still looking forward to it, looking forward to getting back on track. ”
–
