Magnussen: McLaren's ongoing F1 struggles 'a shame'

Kevin Magnussen says it is "a shame" to see former team McLaren struggling to fight at the front of the field in Formula 1, but takes pride from Haas' giant-killing efforts to sit fifth in the championship after nine races.

Magnussen spent much of his junior career under McLaren's wing before making his F1 debut with the team in 2014, but was dropped from its full-season line-up after just one season, making room for Fernando Alonso's arrival.

The Dane left McLaren's setup at the end of 2015 to join Renault before switching to Haas at the start of 2017, and is currently on course for his most successful season in F1. 

Haas scored its best F1 result to date last weekend in Austria as Romain Grosjean finished fourth ahead of Magnussen in fifth, jumping both McLaren and Force India in the constructors' championship to sit fifth, 13 points back from midfield front-runner Renault.

Speaking about Haas' achievements in 2018, Magnussen said he took great pride it what the team was managing, but admitted he found it sad that McLaren was no longer a major force in F1.

"It’s an impressive thing for such a small team to be competing against the likes of Renault and McLaren, beating Williams, and even Force India is quite a bit bigger than us. It’s something to be proud of and it’s a good job from the little team that we’re in," Magnussen said.

"I would say I’m quite surprised, especially with McLaren. I think when I was there it was very clear that it’s a great team, a very big team and beautiful team when I was there.

"I’ve lost touch with them, I don’t talk to them any more, I don’t know the problems they’re facing at the moment but it’s a shame, for sure.

"I’m happy for us that we can compete with them and beat them at times, but for sure, it’s not where they belong."

Magnussen still holds the record for scoring McLaren's best result since the end of 2012, with his charge to second place in the 2014 Australian Grand Prix ahead of thne-teammate Jenson Button in P3 being its most recent appearance on the F1 podium.