Kevin Magnussen: Dane moves from Renault to Hass for 2017 season

Kevin Magnussen will join Romain Grosjean at Haas next season

Renault driver Kevin Magnussen has joined the US-based Haas team in place of Mexican Esteban Gutierrez.

The 24-year-old Dane will partner Frenchman Romain Grosjean in 2017.

Magnussen had wanted to stay with Renault for 2017 but decided to accept Haas's offer after the French team delayed its driver choice.

"We feel that pairing Kevin with Romain will help us develop our new car and continue our growth," team founder and chairman Gene Haas said on Friday.

Magnussen will be heading into his third full season in F1 in 2017.

He raced for McLaren in 2014, scoring a second place on his debut in Australia, but was demoted to reserve driver in 2015, when two-time champion Fernando Alonso joined the team to partner Jenson Button.

McLaren dropped Magnussen at the end of 2015 but Renault rescued his career on the eve of this season after their contract with Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado collapsed as a result of unpaid sponsorship money.

Magnussen has been Renault's most successful driver in a difficult season for the company following their takeover of the Lotus team last December.

He has scored seven points compared to team-mate Jolyon Palmer's one and has out-qualified the Briton 12-7 in the 19 races so far.

But a couple of heavy crashes and the occasional less-convincing weekend left the team uncertain over whether to continue with him.

Renault did offer to take up their option on Magnussen for one further year, BBC Sport understands, but he preferred the security of a longer-term deal with a team that is more committed to him.

Haas, who have close links with Ferrari, have done a solid job in their debut season and lie eighth in the constructors' championship.

Their best result was a fifth place for Grosjean in Bahrain.

Following Magnussen's decision to leave Renault, the team confirmed it was retaining Palmer for their second seat alongside German Nico Hulkenberg, who signed for the team last month.

Palmer had previously been considered an outside bet and more likely to join Force India.