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F1 young driver test: McLaren's Kevin Magnussen tops day one

Kevin Magnussen ensured McLaren topped the first day of Formula 1's Silverstone young driver test

The Dane had not been a factor at the head of the timesheets until the final 20 minutes, when he bolted on medium tyres and set a 1m33.602s that would prove unmatched for the remainder of the session.

While the afternoon did not yield massive improvements, positions changed hands multiple times as drivers found incremental gains.

Young driver test gallery

Among them was Paul di Resta, the first of this year's regular drivers to run on Pirelli's new tyres.

The Scot took over from morning pacesetter James Calado in the Force India and immediately improved upon the latter's benchmark.

He was temporarily demoted to second by Red Bull's Antonio Felix da Costa, who was given a full day of running following a late reshuffle that means Mark Webber will no longer test.

Di Resta regained the advantage after a run on Pirelli's hard compound, but his 1m33.774s was eclipsed by Magnussen late on.

Da Costa ended the session third, ahead of Calado and Williams's Daniel Juncadella.

The Spaniard's morning was disrupted for bodywork repairs, and while a clear afternoon lifted his total to 55 laps, he was still some way short of Magnussen's tally of 100.

Johnny Cecotto (Toro Rosso) edged Sauber reserve Robin Frijns in the fight for sixth after his own late improvement.

Frijns set his best time early in the afternoon, putting him fourth at the time, but dropped back as Magnussen and then Cecotto found time.

AUTOSPORT's guide to F1's rookie testers

Nicolas Prost (Lotus), Davide Rigon (Ferrari) and Alexander Rossi (Caterham) rounded out the top 10.

Rossi's day was brought to a close 30 minutes before time due to a mechanical issue.

Marussia locked out the final two spots through Tio Ellinas and Max Chilton, both of whom were more than three seconds off the pace.

Chilton's afternoon was severely disrupted by an ECU issue that meant he was only able to get out in the final hour, and only able to complete 25 laps in total - the majority of which he devoted to a late long-run.

Wednesday times

Pos  Driver                  Team            Time       Gap       Laps
 1.  Kevin Magnussen         McLaren         1m33.602s            100
 2.  Paul di Resta           Force India     1m33.774s  +0.172s   58
 3.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Red Bull        1m33.821s  +0.219s   82
 4.  James Calado            Force India     1m33.986s  +0.384s   27
 5.  Daniel Juncadella       Williams        1m34.098s  +0.496s   55
 6.  Johnny Cecotto          Toro Rosso      1m34.193s  +0.591s   75
 7.  Robin Frijns            Sauber          1m34.236s  +0.634s   72
 8.  Nicolas Prost           Lotus           1m34.810s  +1.208s   72
 9.  Davide Rigon            Ferrari         1m34.874s  +1.272s   76
10.  Alexander Rossi         Caterham        1m35.651s  +2.049s   69
11.  Tio Ellinas             Marussia        1m36.676s  +3.074s   36
12.  Max Chilton             Marussia        1m38.347s  +4.745s   27

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