Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test: Kevin Magnussen fastest on day one

The 20-year-old Dane worked his way down to a 1m42.651s in the morning, edging out Red Bull's Antonio Felix da Costa by just over six hundredths of a second.

The pair finished more than three quarters of a second clear of the field, which was headed by Gary Paffett - the McLaren test driver having taken over from Magnussen for the afternoon.

The Briton focussed primarily on trialling a variety of aerodynamic and suspension developments intended for use either in the final two races of this season or on McLaren's 2013 car.

Robin Frijns, this year's Formula Renault 3.5 champion, finished fourth fastest for Sauber. The 21-year-old Dutchman is set for a long-term future with the team.

Nicolas Prost (Lotus) finished fifth fastest ahead of Luiz Razia (Toro Rosso) and Giedo van der Garde (Caterham), who spent the day working on aero developments rather than chasing laptimes.

Razia brought about the day's only red flag 10 minutes from the finish, although he was able to return to the pits under his own power.

Magnussen will return for the final afternoon of the test with McLaren on Thursday, while da Costa - the busiest man on the opening day with 79 laps completed - will remain with Red Bull for one more day before handing the RB8 over to Frijns.

In the Dutchman's stead, Esteban Gutierrez will take over at Sauber for days two and three.

Pos  Driver                  Team                Time                Laps
 1.  Kevin Magnussen         McLaren-Mercedes    1m42.651s            40
 2.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Red Bull-Renault    1m42.717s  + 0.066s  79
 3.  Gary Paffett            McLaren-Mercedes    1m43.407s  + 0.756s  44
 4.  Robin Frijns            Sauber-Ferrari      1m43.775s  + 1.124s  78
 5.  Nicolas Prost           Lotus-Renault       1m44.194s  + 1.543s  55
 6.  Luiz Razia              Toro Rosso-Ferrari  1m44.691s  + 2.040s  67
 7.  Giedo van der Garde     Caterham-Renault    1m45.936s  + 3.285s  57

*All timing unofficial