Eddie Jordan absolutely loves £4m-a-year out-of-contract F1 driver who is ‘another Max Verstappen’

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The Mexico City Grand Prix was noteworthy for many reasons with Carlos Sainz grabbing the headlines after achieving what could be the final victory of his Ferrari career.

Sainz impressed Martin Brundle with two phenomenal qualifying laps, before re-taking the lead from Max Verstappen after a safety car restart and driving off into the distance.

His teammate Charles Leclerc was left frustrated that he couldn’t match Sainz’s achievements and was overtaken by Lando Norris in the closing stages after making – and then extremely recovering – from what could have been a race-ending mistake.

However, the three drivers who finished on the podium weren’t the only stars who deserved credit for their performances at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Eddie Jordan was speaking on the Formula For Success Podcast and wanted to congratulate a driver who finished slightly further down the standings.

Haas are having a fantastic end to the season with every update they add to their car working perfectly.

Kevin Magnussen has been outperformed by teammate Nico Hulkenberg for much of the season, but was the best of the rest in Mexico, finishing seventh and adding an important six points to his tally.

Jordan has now compared the £4m-a-year Danish driver to Max Verstappen and admitted that if his F1 team were still on the grid, he’d sign him up in an instant.

Eddie Jordan lauds Kevin Magnussen after the Mexican Grand Prix

Jordan was raving about Magnussen after the race and said: “In my opinion, given the proper car and given certain things, [he] is another Max.

“By that I mean he’s tough, he’s hard, he’s never going to give way.

“Now, we have yet to see the full extent of his speed. But if Jordan was there on the grid, and we were saying to ourselves, I want somebody that I can afford. I want somebody that I can put my arm around. I want somebody that I can love and I can cherish and I can make sure that every member of the Jordan team is behind you.

READ MORE: Haas driver Kevin Magnussen’s life outside F1 from wife and daughters to net worth

“And I will pull him to one side and they explain to him how important it is to finish. I’m promising you right now, David, I would pick Magnussen because I think potentially he’s got the speed to be driving the wheels off what is basically a very average car.

“Come on, let’s be serious about it. And no disrespect to Haas. Yes, they’ve made very good progress. But not to the extent of what I’ve seen that Magnussen is doing with this car.”

Kevin Magnussen facing uncertain future after losing Haas F1 seat

Magnussen discovered months ago that he wouldn’t be retained by Haas for the 2025 season.

Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman will join one-time race winner Esteban Ocon next year and both drivers will be very excited by the progress that’s been made this season.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari and Toyota partnerships

Magnussen admitted that his chances of staying in F1 aren’t definitely over after the race, but his options are very limited.

RB aren’t going to move for a 32-year-old driver when their focus going forward is on developing and promoting young drivers.

That means Magnussen is relying on Sauber to reunite him with Hulkenberg next year.

However, if they’re going to partner Hulkenberg with an experienced driver then Valtteri Bottas is the more logical option.