Kevin Magnussen’s first words after serving rare one-race ban from FIA

Kevin Magnussen is looking forward to taking on “one of my favourite tracks” upon his return to Formula 1, after serving his one-race suspension by the FIA.

The Haas driver had to sit out the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after accumulating 12 penalty points on his Super Licence within one year, becoming the first driver since that system was put in place to fall foul of the ruling – with Oliver Bearman scoring a point in his place.

Kevin Magnussen looks ahead to Singapore GP return after one-race ban

While Magnussen did not reference returning from his ban, his first words since his suspension were choosing to look forward to what he dubbed as a “special” event on the Formula 1 calendar.

“It’s one of my favourite tracks,” Magnussen said of Singapore.

“Street circuits are my favourite category of tracks and Singapore is a special one, the original night race.

How the current F1 penalty points table looks now Kevin Magnussen returns

👉 F1 penalty points: Which driver is closest to receiving a one-race ban?

👉 F1 schedule: When is the next F1 race and where is it being held?

“It’s one of the biggest challenges physically of the year, with only Qatar joining that list.

“With the heat and the humidity and the length of the race, and just because you never really get a break throughout the lap, it’s a constant sequence of corners over the whole lap pretty much.

“I feel like we have a good car for Singapore, it’s a low-speed track and we should be in a decent position to be competitive.

“There’s been some interesting races in the past, we scored in Singapore last year, so am hoping to do that again.”

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu added he is ready to see his permanent driver back in the cockpit this weekend, with Bearman having ably deputised in his absence last time out.

He praised the Dane for how he performed at Marina Bay last season, and will be looking for a repeat this time around.

“Singapore is another challenging street circuit, and I’m looking forward to having Kevin back as he’s very strong at this kind of track, and he loves the challenge,” said the Haas team principal.

“Last year in a car that wasn’t very competitive, he managed to score a point so we’re looking forward seeing what he can do.

“For Nico, the flow of the Marina Bay Street Circuit is better than Baku, so he should be up there as well.

“Compared to Baku, it’s a very different demand; Baku is a low/medium downforce circuit with the long straights and Singapore is more high downforce, so in terms of characteristics it’s going to be a different challenge. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Read next: How a calm Max Verstappen hints at a potential breakthrough moment for Red Bull