Magnussen will work with former Raikkonen engineer

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Kevin Magnussen, already consolidated and stabilized after his sudden return to Formula 1 following the sacking of Russian driver Mazepin after pre-season testing in Barcelona, has worked since the Bahrain Grand Prix with two different engineers, a list that we will add a third party appointed to this permanent position.

Mark Slade, The Chosen One

A few months ago, a job offer posted by Team Haas became popular as they announced that they were looking for a racing engineer to work directly with Kevin Magnussen, after his former man on the other side of the radio, Ed Regan, confirmed his departure from the US national team once they reached summer break after a race Belgian Grand Prix.

As you might imagine, the requirements to be appointed by Haas to this position were not at all for everyone, which included significant F1 experience as a track engineer. Hence, since the position has become vacant so far, Haas has had no alternative but to appoint Dominic Haines internally, who has taken over the role over the three races that made up F1’s comeback in this final race of the 2022 season, with grand prix for Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.

Fortunately for the team led by Steiner, they actually found a man to fit the profile they were looking for, none other than Mark Slade, a famous engineer who has been a track engineer in Formula 1 for 30 years, until now he has held the position at McLaren Mercedes and Lotus/Renault; Working alongside drivers of the stature Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen – both in his time at McLaren and Lotus – as well as others such as Montoya and Hulkenberg or Esteban Ocon.

Fee with “Expiry Date”

Recently, regarding Tom Stallard, Olympic medalist and engineer for Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren, Tony Cucurella, an engineer with Formula One experience, commented that the position of track engineer is rarely occupied by elderly engineers, who standardize them. In a team, they tend to seek out different roles within teams, and distance themselves from the frontline that involves working directly with the pilot, a position that tends to be corrosive and requires a lot of energy. However, in the case of both Stallard and Slade, this does not seem to affect them, because with consolidated experience they continue to look for challenges from the main heroes.