Magnussen Awaiting Audi Talks as Binotto Remains Unresponsive
Nov.1 - Kevin Magnussen admits it's "a pity" his uptick in form may have come too late to remain in Formula 1 next year.
It is believed Haas has offered the 32-year-old Dane a non-driving role for 2025, amid reports that he may be a late contender to fill the vacant race seat at Audi-Sauber next year.
The hottest name in F1's driver market at present is clearly meteoric rookie Franco Colapinto, but Williams appears reluctant to agree to anything other than a 'loan' to a rival team like Sauber or RB next year.
Colapinto hinted at his frustration at this in Brazil on Thursday.
"Well, I think I shouldn't be the person asked about that," he said when asked if Williams should simply release him from his contract.
"I think if Williams cannot give me a race seat, the normal thing should be that they allow me to go somewhere else and that they find the best opportunity for me for the future.
"But I'm not the right person to be asked. I should be the last one, you know."
McLaren seems more willing to release Gabriel Bortoleto from its driver academy so he can go to Audi. The Brazilian, who has just turned 20, got a strong endorsement on Thursday.
"I mean, if I was Sauber, I would have signed him already," said the triple world champion. Especially if that's the future - young drivers."
The incumbent at Sauber, Valtteri Bottas, is under consideration to be retained for 2025, but the Finn insisted in Brazil that he has "nothing new to say" about his future.
"No decision has been made yet," Bottas, 34, added.
As for the reports about Magnussen's late candidature, he admitted that a move to Audi-Sauber is probably unlikely.
"It's a pity that we have got the car much better for me only now," said the Dane, who has been in impressive form with the latest Haas upgrades.
"I would have liked the brakes to work perfectly from the start of the season, but it's good that it happened eventually. But for my future, nothing has changed yet."
Magnussen admitted he was in talks with Sauber earlier this year when Andreas Seidl was in charge. "But since Mattia Binotto took over, I haven't heard anything," he said.
"But he knows I'm available, so I hope for this option. A lot is happening behind the scenes at the moment, so I am in no hurry to make a decision. I have good options for the future and there is no reason to make any decisions right now.
"Let's see how everything goes."
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Regarding Bortoleto, I read from Joe Saward's most recent Green Notebook that Audi would buyout, i.e., provide financial compensation for McLaren contract termination, but I still don't view him as a realistic option anymore.
The matter with Bottas is weird, given he's had contract written & ready for signing for a little while, even based on his own words, & still he has to wait for final info from Audi/Binotto, which puts him at a difficult situation for alternative racing options.
For Colapinto, as pointed out a few times, everything simply happened too late for any 2025 drive, so a regular Williams driver role, with or without a side racing program, is his fate, & likewise, the recent form may indeed be too little too late for Magnussen.
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