Magnussen on how his missed out on Ferrari, Red Bull drives

The Dane started his career in the top flight in the best way possible, debuting as a rookie with McLaren in the 2014 F1 season when the Mercedes/Lewis Hamilton dominance era was just starting.

He finished second in his first race, the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, and went on to score points on 11 more occasions that season but was let go by the team and spent 2015 as a reserve before moving to Renault in 2016.

Looking back on that period, Magnussen told the Motorsport.com network: "It took McLaren 10 years to get back to the form they had in 2012.

"And I hit it right at the beginning of that downward trend. And if I had come two or three years earlier, it would have been a different story.

"I think I was also unlucky to lose my seat at the end of that year," he mused. "You know, I had been quicker than Jenson [Button], on pace. He'd outscored me by far in the races. But it was quite clear what I had to change.

"I just had to finish the races, you know, just calm down a bit. It was not like I needed to do things better. I needed to hold back a little – and then I think it would have been a completely different performance in terms of consistency and so on.

"I think I was unlucky to lose that seat that year, and that kind of changed my trajectory and my career loop," he maintained.

After Renault, Magnussen joined Haas in 2017 for his first stint with the US team that was only in its second season in F1 and claimed that he was in talks with Ferrari over a drive as the Italian team had a close relationship with Haas, but then Charles Leclerc came along.

Magnussen recalled: "It was my third year in F1. I was 24 or something... 23? You know, anything was still possible. I still believed it was possible. And there were moments when I felt it was going in that direction.

"In 2018, we had a really good car in the first half of the year. Charles [Leclerc] had just arrived in F1 with Sauber. And the start of his first season wasn't great. And mine was really good! And then suddenly Ferrari was reaching out.

"Suddenly I was driving in their simulator, not for Haas, but for Ferrari. They were sniffing around. And I thought, okay... I was already getting excited about where this was going. But then Charles started to really kill it! And I heard nothing.

"I don't know how close it got," he admitted. "But I think if Charles had not started to perform, if he had had a s***** season all year long, I think I would have been one of the drivers they would have looked at. Sometimes you feel like you are getting close, but still not that close. That's the way it goes."

Magnussen then revealed that there was a chance for him to end up at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen had it not been for some wrong decisions.

He went on: "And after that season [2018], Daniel [Ricciardo] left Red Bull, and I remember my management speaking to Christian Horner, because of course everyone was talking about the Red Bull seat.

"Christian said, 'Look, there's nothing at Red Bull, but we can talk about Toro Rosso'. And I said, 'No, no, let's not do that,' which I probably should have done.

"It was Gasly who took that [Red Bull] seat. [Alex] Albon was promoted from F2 to Toro Rosso, and then Gasly didn't do a good job – and Albon came in! So, you know, the guy who got that Toro Rosso seat ended up at Red Bull."

Magnussen's first stint with Haas lasted until the end of the 2020 F1 season, after which he and then-teammate Romain Grosjean made way for Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, but when the latter was kicked out of the team in the aftermath of the Russian war on Ukraine, Magnussen was given the call to return after two years away.

He rejoined Haas in 2022 and remained with them until the end of the 2024 season and will now become a BMW driver in their Le Mans and WEC in 2025.

However, the 32-year-old is adamant that he has no regrets despite admitting some stuff he could have done better.

"I could have done more, for sure," he said. "You know, I don't think anyone can say 'I couldn't have done more'. I think there will always be things... There were times when I didn't work hard enough.

"But then there were times when I worked my butt off. I don't really have any regrets. I don't think there's anything I could have done to change the course of my career. I really doubt that," Magnussen concluded.

Magnussen left F1 with his best ranking being ninth in the 2018 F1 season. His podium in Melbourne in 2014 was the only one he achieved, and he also has one pole position at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.