Kevin Magnussen has played down any regrets after leaving the Renault team at the end of 2016 and seeing the progress the team has made in the last 12 months.
The Dane got his second chance in Formula 1 with the French manufacturer but after a tough year and uncertainty over his future opted to join Haas for last season with the now-axed Jolyon Palmer staying on instead.
He would watch on, however, as Renault moved from near the back to arguably the fastest midfield team at the end of 2017, despite only finishing sixth in the constructors’ championship while the American team would be down in eighth.
“Renault is doing well, but I just feel very good here and I feel that we can improve and take the fight to Renault next year if we get everything right,” Magnussen told Motorsport.com.
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The former McLaren driver has also praised Haas as a proper racing team without the distractions and despite failing to make progress up the grid in their second season, sees their future as similar to another privateer team.
“I’m very confident we can go forward, Force India is showing that,” he claimed, with the Silverstone outfit finishing fourth in the teams’ standings for a second straight year last year.
“If you look at Force India’s first couple of seasons in F1, as a new team we’ve raced and done better, so it’s looking good and I think the team is going in the right direction.”
Haas’ technical partnership with Ferrari certainly gave them a good leg up into F1 in 2016, but now, entering their third year, the pressure will be on to score points more regularly and make their way up the midfield ranks.