McLaren's Danish rising star Kevin Magnussen says he feels ready to step up to F1 in 2014

Young Driver Test pacesetter Kevin Magnussen admits he "feels ready" to step up to Formula 1 full time but insists he won't let those ambitions distract him achieving his more immediate 2013 goals.

Magnussen's timesheet-topping performance on Wednesday comes eight months after he set the pace on the corresponding day at the Abu Dhabi rookie sessions, the test which represented his first in F1. Speaking on Wednesday evening, he agreed that the intervening period had allowed him to make an additional step forward. "Yes [I have improved], because I'm working with the team also when I'm not testing," the youngster added. "So learning more about Formula 1 and being educated all the time. I learn more and more about the technical side of Formula 1 and that's very important thing when you're testing. "You have to have knowledge about the car and that's improving all the time, so of course I feel better this time than last time - that's natural." McLaren are one of only two teams in the field not running either of their race drivers across the three-days, meaning their test drivers can exclusively concentrate on development work. Although on the Woking team's simulator roster, Magnussen has yet to drive the struggling MP4-28 in the virtual world so admitted that making comparisons between the simulator and track was difficult for him. Nonetheless, he said the one-day run-out would only enhance his input in the future. "[Getting track time is] very important for correlation to the simulator and to improve the simulator," he added. "That's also improving all the time and it's important for the simulator drivers to feel what the real car is like and to compare with the sim." Magnussen now hands the MP4-28 over to fellow McLaren test driver Oliver Turvey, before the more experienced Gary Paffett takes over on Friday.