F1 Half Term Report: Rate the Grid - Kevin Magnussen

[Paul Jeffrey]

Haas F1 and Danish star Kevin Magnussen is the man in the spotlight for today's edition of 'Rate the Grid'.

Now in his third year of Grand Prix racing, his first for Haas F1, young Kevin Magnussen has done well to recover from a difficult and damaging first year in the sport at McLaren F1, where an early termination of his contract with the Woking team left the very real possibility that Magnussen's career in the top flight come be over before it every really began.

Returning to Renault after a year on the side lines, and now partnered up with Romain Grosjean at the American Haas outfit, Magnussen has gone about the business of rebuilding a once stellar reputation with professionalism and dignity in 2017, often showing flashes of his raw talent in what appears to be one of the more difficult cars on the 2017 F1 grid.

With three points finishes to his name from the first 10 events of the year, 2017 so far has been a solid year for a driver many once thought capable of Grand Prix victories in Formula One.

Vote now to tell us how you rate the first half of 2017 for Kevin Magnussen, and leave a comment below!

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[Leonardo Chaves]

I hate this guy, i think he's a dirty driver, he's always weaving, throwing people out of the track... and he has been doing those things ever since his short stint with Mclaren.

 

[Coffer]

7. Exceeded expectations and has proven to be more loyal to the team than I thought he'd be. He's maturing nicely. I used to not like him, as he is a bit of an abrasive douche with slight aggressive tendencies (he was particularly bad in 2014), but he's doing a very good job for the team right now, just like his teammate. While his maximum pace is lower than that of Grosjean, he does seem to be more consistent and better equipped to handle anything that's thrown at him car-wise, which makes the pair a good, stable one to hold on to.

He just needs better luck. He should've been right up there with Grosjean in Austria. If his car hadn't failed twice, Haas would actually be really close to Toro Rosso, which is crazy given that they have the second worst car on the grid (and I will preemptively laugh at anyone who is still of the belief that McLaren have anything less than the 5th best car right now). This is definitely his best season yet, and he's actually showing a bit of promise, which is very good.

The balls comment was awesome too. Good to see him standing up for himself and his teammate. Even accounting for his otherwise excellent season with Renault, Hulkenberg was downright trash in Hungary and fully deserved that comment after crashing into Grosjean.

 

[k_badam]

he can suck my balls

 

[vee10]

Richard Cranium

 

[Benutzername]

Will there be an overview when each driver has been judged?

 

[GianmarcoFiduci]

I just don't like him. Don't like his attitude, don't like his behavior on the track.. especially when it comes to defending.. last week is just another example, lots of double moves in the straight, forcing drivers off track.. I think that 2014 Spa defense just sums his behavior up.
Apart from this, he's doing a decent season.. Grosjean is a lot quicker than him some weekends while sometimes they're equal.

 

[Thang Nguyen]

Although Magnussen purposely forced Hulkenberg out of the track in the Hungarian Grand Prix, I respect him. I respect all the drivers.
So, I give him 7/10.

 

[Matthew Allington]

Difficult to judge. He's had some hits and misses, but he's also had the occasional misfortune (i.e. the entire weekend in Austria). Also worth mentioning that he's generally coped with Haas' braking issues far better than RoGro has.

 

[Sky]

i award him the midseason 'F1 Bellend' award.

 

[thatmotorfreak]

I liked his speech about being against the Halo during the Hungarian press conference.

 

[Nick Hill]

Wow, I didn't expect such strong opinions of Magnussen! Guess I have not been paying close enough attention...or I just don't mind dirty driving as much!

I gave him a '7' - even though it's a bit like the McLaren situation with the car being so unreliable as to make it difficult to do a solid teammate comparison, I think he's for the most part held his own against Grosjean (who I think is somewhat underrated as a driver).

As I jokingly noted at the outset, I haven't really mentally recorded some of the dirty tricks some in this thread have mentioned, so I will be keeping a closer eye on Kevin as the year finishes up and will adjust his end-of-term grade accordingly.

 

[M-Bimmer]

a four would do but could be a solid 3.
He won't be missed if he is around or not.
Over and out

 

[Jan Larsen]

5. Mediocre driver thats done decently this year (with a few glitches), but dosent seem to be improving, or just very slowly improving. First year with McLaren was too much, Renault wasnt impressed either, but its slightly better at Haas. A guy that divides opinions. Hampered by a team that cant for the life of them figure out their chassis, which, on a good day, looks capable.

 

[Celtic Pharaoh]

 

[Hygge]

I hate this guy, i think he's a dirty driver, he's always weaving, throwing people out of the track... and he has been doing those things ever since his short stint with Mclaren.

You wrote exactly was I was about to post.
I hope he will be gone soon.

 

[vee10]

https://twitter.com/EvanThaBoer/status/894225150794760193

 

[Rob]

I hate this guy, i think he's a dirty driver, he's always weaving, throwing people out of the track... and he has been doing those things ever since his short stint with Mclaren.

Can you say -- FIA paints drivers how they want people to perceive them? Because, apparently it works. Thought you were talking about Max Verstappen there for a while. Almost changed my "8" vote. Second guess was Nico Rosberg, or the track thugs that patrol the paddock, making it about as accessible as a McLaren P1.

K-Mag was the recipient of probably the worst "penalty" I have ever witnessed in racing. You can almost see the discussion among bureaucrats, which produces nothing, and is full of sound and fury, but no consistency.

 

[Peter Klawitter]

nobody will miss him if he doesn't get a seat in F1. bad temper and foul language in pit late and in vehicle.

 

[Rob]

bad temper and foul language

Nigel Mansell
Jim Hunt
Mario Andretti
Dale Earnhardt
Sebastian Vettel
John Force
Bernie Ecclestone
Lewis Hamilton
Fernando Alonso
Juan Pablo Montoya
Michael Schumacher

shall I go on? According to the "Caterham" Rule, Haas should still have no points.