Magnussen responds to Hulkenberg "beef" rumours

Additional reporting by Sam Hall

Kevin Magnussen is confident any "beef" with new Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg is a thing of the past.

The Dane will be joined by former Renault driver Hulkenberg next year after Haas decided against retaining the services of Mick Schumacher for a third season.

The new team-mates have never enjoyed the smoothest of relationships, with Magnussen famously telling the German to "Suck my balls, honey," at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix following an on-track incident.

But Magnussen believes the duo will form a strong partnership for Haas going forward.

Speaking in an end-of-season interview with GPFans, Magnussen said: "At the end of the day, I hope it's going to be good for the team. I'm looking forward to working with Nico.

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“At the same time, I really enjoyed working with Mick and getting to know him.

“What I'm focused on doing is doing the same that I always do, is give my best to the team and try and help as much as I can to move us forward. That's a standard answer, I know, but that's really how it is.”

Asked of his relationship with Hulkenberg, the 30-year-old added: “Yeah, we've never been close, either in the past or anything, but in Bahrain, we met in the airport and caught up for the first time.

"A lot of people think we have some beef going on, but we really don’t.”