The sight of Kevin Magnussen with his father, Jan, in the paddock during the Malaysian Grand Prix may have delighted McLaren supporters of a nostalgic disposition – but it is something they will not see repeated regularly this season.

Magnussen Jr says he does not want his family around because it distracts him from talking to engineers and mechanics. Magnussen, who finished on the podium on his Formula One debut in Australia last month, is one of the outstanding young stars in the sport, while Jan, who was once described by Sir Jackie Stewart as the driver with the greatest potential since Ayrton Senna, had his F1 break with the same Woking-based team in 1995, although it was a short-lived career at the top.

Earlier this year, Jan talked about curtailing his still successful career in motorsport to devote more time to support his son. But when Kevin was asked whether he would welcome that, he paused, then replied: "Not really."

He added, sounding at little like the famously solitary Greta Garbo: "I'm quite happy to be alone. For the reason that if I have family round I feel a distraction. It's nice to have them there, really nice, but then I want to spend time with them, and that's not good.

"It's frustrating. So I prefer them not to be there, really. I prefer to spend time with the engineers. In Malaysia, with my dad, the only time I really spent time with him was when we had dinner back at the hotel, in the room, just me and him. That was good, to have him there, just before going to bed, to have a chat.

"I grew up with my mum, so I'm very, very close to her. But I'm close to my dad as well, and we talk about racing a lot, as we share that passion. I guess that's quite normal. But I don't need him there.

"He asks questions, because he's been out of Formula One for a long time. He has a lot of questions for me. A lot of stuff has changed and a lot of that he doesn't know about. He's learning as well. He's very interested in what's going on.

"So we have a chat about racing, what the car's like to drive. We share the emotions of driving race cars. It's cool to have a dad who understands what you mean when you talk about oversteer or traction. But it's not a help at the race."

Magnussen has struggled to live up to his breezy start in Australia. But that's more the fault of a McLaren car that is short of downforce and not really capable of challenging Mercedes. McLaren were off the pace again in qualifying on Saturday, when they failed to reach Q3.

But Magnussen, like Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat and Valtteri Bottas, is one of a number of gifted young racers who are challenging the paddock's establishment. "We will learn very quickly," he says. "If you come to Formula One you have already proved that you are able to adapt and learn and be fast. For me, I feel it's a big help to have Jenson [Button]. He's easy to approach, he speaks very well, he's got lots of experience and he's fast. I couldn't ask for a better team-mate.

"And you can say the same about Ricciardo, who has a guy [Sebastian Vettel] who has experience and is good, obviously, and four-times world champion. It's really important to have someone to learn from. And if you have that it's possible to go out and perform."

This is what Magnussen, 21, who has lived near the team's Surrey headquarters since 2011, has always wanted to do.

"Every day, I'm living my dream. Every day when I do this it feels just like the dream I had for so many years. So this is a dream come true, even though I haven't achieved my goals yet."

Magnussen says his strength is his ability to analyse himself and see his weaknesses – pushing too hard and braking too late is the main one now, he says.

He never had any heroes as a boy, but adds: "I was just a fan of Formula One. And a fan of McLaren. Ayrton Senna was not racing when I was watching it. But he was a legend and the reason I started watching and cheering McLaren. And my dad was a big part of that too."

But that same dad will not be a constant companion in the season ahead.