Kevin Magnussen has acknowledged that his recent uptick in form might have come too late to secure a full-time race seat in Formula 1 for next year.
"It's a pity that we have got the car much better for me only now," he admitted. "I would have liked the brakes to work perfectly from the start of the season, but it's good that it happened eventually."
Despite his improved performance with the latest Haas upgrades, the 32-year-old Dane says "for my future, nothing has changed yet."
Although Haas has offered him a potential non-driving role for 2025, there have been reports that Magnussen could be a late contender for Audi-Sauber's remaining race seat. When asked about the potential move, Magnussen revealed that discussions had been active earlier in the year with former team head Andreas Seidl. "But since Mattia Binotto took over, I haven't heard anything," he explained.
"But he knows I'm available, so I hope for this option. A lot is happening behind the scenes at the moment, so I am in no hurry to make a decision."
Meanwhile, Williams rookie Franco Colapinto's name has emerged as one of the hottest prospects in F1's driver market, though his potential move to a rival team like Audi-Sauber or RB has been stalled by Williams' preference to loan, rather than fully release, him.
Asked if Williams should allow him more freedom in finding a race seat, Colapinto expressed his frustration, stating, "Well, I think I shouldn't be the person asked about that. I think if Williams cannot give me a race seat, the normal thing should be that they allow me to go somewhere else."
At the same time, McLaren appears more willing to release Gabriel Bortoleto, with triple world champion Max Verstappen saying in Brazil: "If I was Sauber, I would have signed him already. Especially if that's the future—young drivers."
As for Valtteri Bottas, the current Sauber driver and another contender for the 2025 seat, he confirmed in Brazil, "No decision has been made yet. Nothing new to say."
Magnussen, for his part, is maintaining optimism. "I have good options for the future and there is no reason to make any decisions right now," he said.
