Daniel Ricciardo signed by Toro Rosso as a third driver
Red Bull Toro Rosso recently announced that they have signed Daniel Ricciardo as their test/reserve driver. This means that he will have to drive for the team usually at the Friday test sessions of almost every grand prix.
Daniel recently stated that even though he was unable to earn the full season drive with the team for the 2011 Formula 1 season, he is still focused and he will not let the team down in anyway.
“I can't really rest on that, that I'll be in next year. If I have a bad year this year, I'm sure he'll change his mind. I'm always excited to start a season. I'm sure once Bahrain comes around it'll be quite a good feeling coming through me,” he told the
media.
Other than this, he will be competing for the Formula Renault 3.5, the same series where he finished in 2nd place last year in the drivers’ standings and he is clearly one of the favorites for this year.
Helmut Marko stated in a recent interview that the young driver deserves to be a part of Formula 1 and he should be given a chance latest by the 2012 Formula 1 season,
“The plan is to see him in a race cockpit [in F1] by 2012 at the latest,” said Helmut.
However, Ricciardo is not sure how the team plans to use him at the moment but he is certain that the team will use him before the first race of the season that is expected to take place in Bahrain.
“I'm not sure what testing I'll be doing. They've told me, the Toro Rosso guys, that I'll be in the car for testing before Bahrain. I'm definitely driving in Bahrain on the Friday. It would be nice to be a bit more comfortable in the car and not have to
be looking in the mirrors every corner,” said Ricciardo.
He stated that he is currently enjoying his time with the team and he hopes to produce the best possible results and prove that he has the ability to race for a Formula 1 team as their full season driver.
It would be interesting to see him drive for Toro Rosso in 2011. Toro Rosso still haven't revealed their drivers’ line-up officially but it is expected that they will keep Jaime Alguersuari, however, nothing has been confirmed yet.
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