There is speculation in Denmark that Kevin Magnussen has been busy in recent days, having discussions with unnamed Formula 1 teams about possible employment in the future. It is not clear what the former McLaren driver is up to, but on paper there are only two drives available: the two seats at Manor. There are a number of drivers looking to see what can be done there, but the signs are that the drives (at least one of them) will go to the highest bigger and the more money one driver brings, the easier it is for the team to take on a non-paying driver. Thus, for example, if Indonesia’s Rio Haryanto were able to bring the kind of money that is being talked about from his government, there might be a possibility of a Haryanto-Magnussen pairing. On paper the Manor-Mercedes ought to be a very decent car. It has a Mercedes engine and the technical team under Technical Director John McQuilliam looks to be quite useful. In June, rather quietly, the team hired a new head of design in Luca Furbatto. He was chief designer at Scuderia Toro Rosso from 2012 to 2014, leading the design teams of the TR7, TR8 and TR9 cars. Prior to that he had a long history at McLaren between 2001 and 2011, where he started out as head of stress analysis and materials. Prior to that he was at Toyota for a year, but started his career with a two year stint with Tyrrell/BAR. It is something of a Catch 22 situation for the team because it needs money, but it might earn more money if there is a better driver racing the car. There are a number of drivers who are being linked with Manor, including Will Stevens and Alex Rossi.
There has been some speculation that Renault might be looking for a better driver line-up, but it is also believed that both Pastor Maldonado and Jolyon Palmer have already provided sponsorship. Such monies could be returned, but that would be expensive. However, Maldonado’s situation is clouded by the political upheavals in his native Venezuela, where the opposition has taken control of Congress after winning the recent elections and is not aiming to bring in a great deal of reform. The leader of Congress said a couple of days ago that it is looking to “recover our autonomous power, pass laws of amnesty and national reconciliation and look within six months for a constitutional, democratic, peaceful and electoral means of ending the administration” of current President Nicolás Maduro. Maldonado’s support comes from the national oil company PDVSA, but this is currently losing huge sums of money because of the low price of oil.
It may be that Magnussen is discussing longer-term arrangements, which would give him a reserve driver role in 2016 and then a race drive in 2017.
The word is that Kevin has some funding from the Bestseller AS clothing firm, which owns a string of fashion brands, notably Jack & Jones.
joeblogsf1 
Joe,
Any idea when Manor will announce their driver line up? KMag would be a great choice alongside Rossi or Haryanto.
No idea
Thanks Joe!
Any idea at all on the Manor name change? Has that gone through yet?
Not that I have heard
This is all very well, Joe, but I think you called it right when you questioned whether anyone called Kevin should be in F1 at all at all.
Sadly for Kev there is an unprecedented heap of talent in F1 … it is a buyers market and the teams are the buyers.
Quite agree, Rio Boy. We had an Australian Prime Minister by the name of Kevin a few years back, and a dickens of a mess ensued.
Love that phrase.. ‘A dickens of…. xx??’ etc 🙂
Hopefully Kevin will find a new job soon! Is it Peter Nygaard who is doing the speculation? There is not a lot in the Danish media…
Not just Peter.
Joe – Thanks for your view.
Good to hear that the rumours extend beyond Peter (he did a piece a while ago (in a DK daily) on the match between Manor and Kevin).
I can’t help but think that the management of Kevin is suboptimal, my understanding is that his manager is an “F1 1st timer” with plenty of good intentions and grit but modest network and zero experience. Peter has also voiced similar concerns in DK media, particularly noting her absence from multiple races. IF Kevin gets his foot back in the F1-door, I hope he will make the (hard decision) and replace her management with someone else.
@joe – Would it be “easy” for Kevin to enter a working relationship with someone established (eg. Coton or similar) or are these managers choosy/selective?
Magnusson Manor Mercedes. Maybe they have some backing from “mmm mattersons”?
In all reality, Barcelona 2012 aside Maldonado is the driver who least deserves to be in F1.
I hope K Mag goes to Renault.
sponsored by M&Ms 🙂
It would be a huge mistake, IMHO, if Manor didn’t go get Alexander Rossi. Alexander was there when the team needed him and stepped in very nicely. I know he probably won’t be the kind of money draw that one from an entire country might have but the American crowd won’t soon forget Manor if they selected him.
Kevin advantage is experience from one of the biggest teams in F1. All the other so called talents have the money but have not proven their talent yet. Manor needs a point scoring driver and thats what Kevin is. Even scored better than wonderkid Verstappen
Joe,
Could you give us an idea roughly how much money some of these pay drivers bring to the teams.
Thanks.
Up to $30 million delivered after commissions
Joe, can you explain the commission comment? Who gets the commission and what is the common rate?
People get what they can get. Sometimes outrageous sums.
Sweet baby Jesus!
Hmmm – $30 million for a talented young driver to buy a seat in a a back marker team and yet there are still people who think there is very little wrong with F1 that can’t be fixed with a bit of tinkering around the edges! The people who care can do nothing and those that could do something refuse to bite the hand that feeds so we just get more of the same!
Two birds, one stone. It’d be nice to see Magnussen racing again, with Haryanto boosting F1’s image in Indonesia; Wehrlein in GP2, for F1 in 2017.
If not, then maybe another chance for Rossi, who might have to be a reserve driver again otherwise. But Stevens is sure of his backing, and Wehrlein still has some from Mercedes at least.
If Ferrari don’t sign Grosjean for 2017, Renault could pair him with Magnussen or Kvyat for an effective (and importantly very cheap, possibly cash neutral) driver line up.
Sure, it would be great, if “our Kevin”, with the help of his backers (we are many! – but the most important is his long time sponsor from Bestseller) will make it back to the F1 Grid – either already this year or in 2017.
Since almost a year, every time a small F1 hope for Magnussen has turned up, the press in DK went crazy with a lot of speculation. Many of us hope, this time there is more meat in the pie.
Today, Peter Nygaard has an very good, informative article in the Danish newspaper BT about the subject. Interesting….
PS: What with that name Kevin?? I mean, many quite known and respectable people have that same first name. So what is it with Brits and a Kevin name?
I have said on another blog, Renault has a long term relationship with Total that goes beyond F1, has had it for something like 40 years. As a result Renault will want Total stickers on the car and they don’t go together with PDVSA. Considering current political situation in Venezuela and global oil market, I am guessing that PDVSA exit will be in interest to both Renault and PDVSA themselves, so it’s highly likely an agreement will be reached, if not already done. Maldonado is a collateral damage.
This is all true
The BBC are reporting that PDVSA haven’t come up with the latest installment of Maldonado’s sponsorship and Magnussen will replace him if the money doesn’t come through.
Probably true
Would love to see KMag back in a car. As an American, would also love to see Rossi in a car. As a fan of F1 in general, would love to see Manor/Marussia/WhateverNameApplies scoring points along with Haas. With Merc most likely dominating out front again in ’16, the back markers may be where all the racing takes place. I’m ok with that, as I love seeing the underdogs rise up and take chunks from the powers that be….kind of like watching “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel.