Magnussen leads Di Resta on day one of test

2013 F1 testing

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Kevin Magnussen led the times at the end of the first day of the Young Drivers Test at Silverstone.

The McLaren development driver logged 100 laps and set a best lap of 1’33.602 in the latter stages of the test.

With track temperatures well above 40C, Magnussen’s best time was two seconds shy of Jenson Button’s British Grand Prix qualifying time. Similar warm conditions are expected for the rest of the test.

The first day of running saw a dozen different drivers on track with Force India splitting their programme between James Calado and Paul di Resta while Tio Ellinas and Max Chilton did laps for Marussia.

Di Resta and Calado both featured in the top four, separated by Antonio Felix da Costa’s Red Bull. Daniel Juncadella was fifth fastest for Williams after comparing different front wing configurations/

Alexander Rossi’s test for Caterham came to an early end due to a hydraulic problem: “That unfortunately meant I didn’t have a chance to put in a really quick lap,” he said, “but we were still able to complete most of the day’s plan and that’s good, for the team and for me as it means we have both got pretty much everything we could from day one of the test.”

DriverCarBest timeLapsDifference
1Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes MP4-281’33.602100
2Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes VJM061’33.774580.172
3Antonio Felix da CostaRed Bull-Renault RB91’33.821820.219
4James CaladoForce India-Mercedes VJM061’33.986270.384
5Daniel JuncadellaWilliams-Renault FW351’34.098550.496
6Johnny Cecotto JnrToro Rosso-Ferrari STR81’34.193750.591
7Robin FrijnsSauber-Ferrari C321’34.236720.634
8Nicolas ProstLotus-Renault E211’34.810721.208
9Davide RigonFerrari F1381’34.874761.272
10Alexander RossiCaterham-Renault CT031’35.651692.049
11Tio EllinasMarussia-Cosworth MR021’36.676363.074
12Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth MR021’38.347274.745

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Image © Force India

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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40 comments on “Magnussen leads Di Resta on day one of test”

  1. So was anyone there today? Pretty busy, or fairly quiet?

    I’m heading to Silverstone tomorrow and looking forward to a day basking in the glorious July sunshine, watching the fastest cars in the world at the best race track in the world. It doesn’t get much better than that.

    1. There were a good few people there today (I’ve never been before so have no reference, but the circuit commentator said the numbers were “really good”). There was pretty much non-stop running for all eight hours of the test, so plenty to see.

    2. I was there and I’d say it was fairly quiet. No struggle at all to find a seat in a covered stand (which was an absolute godsend on a day like today) although there were a fair few more people in the general admission areas.

      Queues to get in and out of the car park were non-existant for me, although I did arrive before 9.

      However, if you’re planning to do the pit walk, get there as early as you can! The queue for that was insanely long, I’m grateful I didn’t bother with it today.

    3. I was there and have been very dissappointed. If you’re looking for a chance to see F1 cars at their best, don’t bother going. Nowhere will you find in advance that a third of the track is closed, until you walk to each end of the cordens. You guessed it, Copse, Maggots/Becketts and Stowe all blocked-off. All you get for your money (add a third for buying on the day btw) is a short section of Abbey, then nothing until the end of Brooklands up to before the turn-in of Copse. What a let down.
      I tried to get a refund (had to walk another half a mile from the ticket stand) but was refused. Was told that it was only my opinion that those corners are the best places to watch, despite a driver and the track announcer saying just that only an hour before!
      Apparently there aren’t enough staff to coverr the track (though there were plenty to block it off and to man the Silverstone merchandise shops, of course).
      Unless I get a refund, it will be the last of my money they see, I’d rather go to any other circuit – and I’m told it can be cheaper to travel to Spa for race day!
      If you’d like to get a refund, or dispute their treatment of the fans – I have a contact name to write to, though after speaking to her today, I’ll be addressing her manager.

      1. Nowhere will you find in advance that a third of the track is closed, until you walk to each end of the cordens.

        Always been that way for testing at Silverstone & its the same on most tracks.

        Last time I went to a Silverstone test in 2008, We only had from Luffield to Copse & the section from Club-Abbey, Rest of the track was off-limits.

      2. I’m going tomorrow so today I checked the Silverstone website which has comprehensive details on what to expect – ticket price, parking details, opening and closing times, FAQ and a big downloadable map showing where the admission areas are, which I’ll be taking with me. Shame you didn’t check this before you went but at least you know for next time.

        1. Thanks David. I did check on Tuesday, that whole ‘spectator info’ tab has been added since. None of the driver info was there either. Tickets have gone up since Tuesday online too, they were £15 per day or £35 for all three.
          The shame for me is there won’t be a next time.

      3. I asked Silverstone on Twitter and they said Copse to Abbey would be open, I asked if that followed the track so we could get to Village… they said yes.

        This was not the case… extremely annoying too :-(

        Twitter convo here –> https://twitter.com/SilverstoneUK/status/357051988023848960

  2. Any news on Chilton or was he just truly shown up here?

    1. Ben (@scuderia29)
      17th July 2013, 17:24

      yeah it seems unlikely he was really that much slower, he’s not even 1.7 seconds off Bianchi..but i certainly wouldnt be at all surprised if Elinas is actually quicker

      1. Just for reference, in Silverstone qualifying last month he did do a 1:35.858. Don’t think today’s lap times were truly representative.

  3. Ellinas 1.7 seconds faster than Chilton. In his first ever outing with an F1 car…

    1. Unbelievable! Give the boy an F1 car and he will do miracles!

    2. testing

    3. Oh my god, and the McLaren over a second faster than the Ferrari!!

      Haha, do people not understand testing times are near impossible for us fans to read into? Even when comparing times between two drivers in the same team?

  4. Rather than doing a whole text on top times, shouldn’t we concentrate on number of laps done, new parts (if seen) and type of runs done ? (just saying this is not a report on a quali session)

  5. Frijns closer to di Resta than Hülkenberg was in Silverstone ^_^

  6. I’m confused, did Magnussen do

    100 laps

    As it says in the description, or only 33 as it says later on…

    Hope it’s the former, as I’m going tomorrow and want to see the cars doing as many laps as they can..

    1. The Blade Runner (@)
      18th July 2013, 10:35

      @keeleyobsessed The McLaren website says that he did 101 laps

  7. finally McLaren tops something

  8. Do the lap times actually tell us anything ?

    Wouldn’t a fairer comparison be to pay the poorer teams to run ALL the young drivers ?
    e.g.
    – poorer teams get to try out 10-15 drivers
    – new drivers get to try out 2-3 cars

    1. @robspan Testing isn’t there to tell us anything. It’s there for the teams to test new components and get data on them and tyres, not for us to draw comparisons…

      1. Since when ?

  9. What’s Max Chilton doing in F1?

    1. footing the bill for the team to be there?

    2. In fairness to Max, You don’t know what program he was running when he was in the car.

      This is why testing times are completely irrelevant, Nobody is pushing for lap time, There all just doing there own programs be it gathering tyre data, aero data or doing long runs on full tanks to get race stint data.

      1. In fairness, we know what programme he’s on in qualifying and races, and he’s nowhere near Bianchi.

  10. Does it cost anything to attend the YDT at Silverstone?

    1. Tickets available on the gate for £20, under-16s go free, and tickets to have a wander in the pit lane for an hour at the end of a day are £10 each.

  11. That was only expected! Way to go Kevin – especially when we know McLaren is not one of the fastest cars at the moment. Excellent display of control and power.

    Come on Whitmarsh, it’s time to give Little Mag the seat in the Big Mac! ;-)

    1. Kevin Magnusen is now clearly one of the fastest drivers in the world. I think when he gets a race seat we’ll see Vettel making an early retirement. In fact I think most drivers will probably be too scared to challenge him and they’ll all duck out so F1 will simply become a time trial by the soon-to-be legendary Kev

      1. I see him as an 8 time WDC! All with Marussia!

        1. I think legends are born in the young driver test program. Magnussen just showed that he can do a better job than Button and Perez combined!!!

    2. Only testing, but ahead of Di Resta and Da Costa in a McLaren!, he always tops the charts, shame he is’nt testing anymore.

  12. Nice to see some really talented youngsters there. Hopefully Magnussen, da Costa, Calado and Frijns get an F1 seat for 2014.

    1. @Enigma if there is real justice in this world only Frijins will get the seat. It’s a dang YDT I wouldn’t tout them too much.

  13. Rui (@ruicaridade)
    18th July 2013, 0:35

    Da Costa did that time on hard tires.

  14. Looks like Mclaren have again fitted te car with wrong component a they did in the pre season testing on the very first day..;)

  15. Who do you want to see get the boot @enigma

    1. @hohum If it were up to me: Da Costa to go to Toro Rosso (simple if Ricciardo moves to Red Bull, or Vergne to Lotus (which has been rumoured I think)), Calado to replace Sutil. Frijns at Sauber (with both current drivers leaving – Hulk to Lotus, Gutierrez staying without a seat). As for Magnussen, I honestly don’t know where he’d fit in.

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