Daniel Ricciardo must become a part of Formula 1 no later than 2012: Helmut Marko
Red Bull’s official advisor Helmut Marko recently stated that the young Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo should be introduced to the Formula 1 by “2012 at the latest”.
Ricciardo will drive for Toro Rosso as their reserve driver for the 2011 Formula 1 and will perform at the Friday practice sessions of most of the race weekends. Other than that, he also signed with Formula Renault 3.5 series. The young Aussie lost the 2010
title by “inches” to Mikhail Aleshin.
Toro Rosso currently has Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi as their full season drivers but it is not certain yet as the team is yet to announce its drivers’ line-up officially. It is expected that Ricciardo’s obvious route into F1 would be by replacing
one of the current full season drivers of the team.
Since he is confirmed with Toro Rosso, it seems that Daniel managed to impress Helmut Marko and as a result, Helmut believes that the young driver has the potential to race as a full season Formula 1 driver.
It is not easy to impress a person like Helmut Marko especially since Toro Rosso’s sister team Red Bull Racing Team has produced drivers like Sebastian Vettel. Getting into Formula 1 is now more difficult than ever and since some of the teams prefer drivers
with a major sponsor over a driver who has nothing but talent; Formula 1 is becoming an “expensive” sport as well.
Nevertheless, Marko did not dismiss the idea of using Ricciardo in a race in 2011 and it seems that the 21-year old still has a chance of at least making his debut in a Formula 1 this year.
“It all depends on the parties involved. The plan is to see him (Daniel Ricciardo) in a race cockpit in 2012 at the latest,” said Red Bull's driver programme manager Marko while clearly referring to Buemi and Alguersuari.
It would be interesting to see the young Aussie drive for the team sometime soon and since Marko believes that the 21 year old is ready for Formula 1, Ricciardo will surely find his way into the sport latest by 2012, if everything keeps going the way it
is right now for him.
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