Magnussen happy at Haas - but willing to look at top teams too

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Kevin Magnussen insists that he's happy with where he is at Haas F1 for the time being.

However, when it comes to his future in Formula 1, the Dane hasn't ruled out looking around to see whether there are any openings at top teams on the grid.

"I'm happy to be here even if I don't know what will happen in the future," Magnussen told Marca newspaper.

I feel comfortable with my team and that they appreciate what I do," he continued. "I really like the environment we have here."

Magnussen is currently in the second year of a two-season contract with the American team. Haas is understood to also have first call on his services for 2019, with an option to renew for another year.

But that's not going to stop the 25-year-old from looking around at what else might be available.

A number of top seats could be in the offing at the end of the season. The contracts for Kimi Raikkonen, Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo are all set to expire this year.

Magnussen 'doesn't care what others think'

And Lewis Hamilton's contract at Mercedes is also up, although it's expected that he will re-sign with the team for another multi-year deal to keep him at Brackley.

"We are going to see if I have the opportunity to be in a leading team to fight for the championship," Magnussen admitted.

"Any driver with ambition would accept that opportunity.

"But until that happens, we have a competitive car [at Haas] and I am really happy," he insisted.

Magnussen has finished in the points in three of the five races so far this season. By comparison, his Haas team mate Romain Grosjean is yet to score a point.

He finished in sixth place in the last Grand Prix in Spain as the 'best of the res' behind drivers from Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.

But Magnussen has also been building up a 'bad boy' image that might hunder his search for a drive at one of those Big Three teams.

"I focus on the team and block all of that out," he said when asked about the criticism of his on-track demeanour. "It's all a distraction and it can be frustrating if you let it get into your head."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.