On his way to the Hard Rock Stadium, Perez takes his Red Bull through New York, the Everglades and Miami. 1:45
Since he returned to Formula One in March, Kevin Magnussen has been hard to find without a big smile on his face.
The story of his comeback has been told. After giving up hope of racing in F1 again, he got a call from his old boss, who wanted him to replace Nikita Mazepin at the new team.
After convincing Louise that it was the right thing to do, Magnussen is back in Miami this week as a Formula One driver. She was concerned about their new role as parents and whether the F1 schedule would fit into that.
The return of Magnussen has added to the small collection of fathers on the grid, with Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez alone in that category before. Magnussen and his wife created one of the feel-good moments in F1's recent history when they watched Laura play in the cockpit of his car.
The Magnussen of this stint is noticeably different to the one we have seen before. He is more relaxed away from the race track than he is at the race track. A lot of it comes down to a shift in perspective, as he puts some of that down to gratitude at an opportunity he never thought he would get again.
The Miami Grand Prix will be broadcast on ABC on May 8, 3.25PM, Full Schedule.
The focus is on you all the time. Suddenly, becoming a dad there is this other person that is more important.
He says that you are not even second most important anymore, and that he raised his hand high and then dropped it.
When racing drivers talk about the noise around them, it's usually because they're in the car with the visor down, away from the car. In his previous stint in Formula One, it felt like Magnussen was in a constant fight for recognition as he forged a reputation as a racer getting the best out of uncompetitive cars.
Magnussen has found that the same worries are no longer there.
Being a father changes things a bit. It made me realize what life is like outside of F1.
It doesn't feel as important when I'm in the car or in the paddock. It is important to me, but it is not as scary as it could be.
I used to have a lot of fear being in F1. Is it possible that I will lose my seat if I stop working in Formula One? If I don't do well today, I'm out.
All of that has changed. It's easier, more relaxed.
For any racing parent, an inevitable question follows any mention of their children -- are they going to follow in your footsteps? Motor racing has a lot of drivers following in the footsteps of their racing relatives.
It might seem premature to ask about Magnussen's baby daughter, but a lot of second generation drivers start racing as soon as they can walk. Magnussen was given a go-kart for his first birthday. The only constant in his life has been racing, and he can't remember his first race.
Kimi shared photos of his son Robin and daughter Rianna driving their karts.
Magnussen said that he wanted to be careful about pushing Laura into it. I will be supporting her no matter what.
It would be funny if she came into racing because we would get to drive go-karts together. She can do whatever she wants to do, but I don't have any hope that she follows in her dad's footsteps.
Magnussen would have never left F1 if it wasn't for talent.
When he and former teammate Romain Grosjean left in 2020, they were replaced by Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, who were funded by his father's company. Magnussen got the call when the sponsorship deal fell apart on the eve of the season.
In F1, Mazepin was never competitive.
When asked if it made him feel better knowing he could have done a better job, Magnussen said he didn't think of it that way. I did not feel pity. Is that the correct word? No of those thoughts. I didn't look back when I was out. I was too busy having fun.
Magnussen understood what the team had been trying to do with the money and why they had to move on, with the team's car largely a by-product of the team writing off last season.
I watched it from the outside. The plan was fast and they abandoned the project to focus on this car.
It made sense to me that they were struggling. I did not think finishing last in 2021 was their level.
I think they made the right choice because they fell behind in 19 and 20 and went all out to get this project started. When I got the chance to come back, I was excited because I knew all the focus had been on this car.
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