Formula 1: Daniel Ricciardo welcomed at Toro Rosso
Red Bull Racing Team’s sister team Toro Rosso recently signed Daniel Ricciardo as their reserve/Friday test driver and retained both Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari as their race drivers for the 2011 Formula 1 season.
Alguersuari recently stated that he is glad to have Ricciardo in the team and has no problems with him driving at the Friday practice sessions at each race throughout the season.
“His appointment is a very good confirmation of the operation of the Red Bull junior team. Without this programme and the determination of Dr Helmut Marko, I would not be in Formula One,” Alguersuari told the media.
Red Bull’s advisor Helmut Marko recently stated that Daniel Ricciardo deserves to be a full season driver in Formula 1 by 2012 or even sooner if possible. It is believed that he wanted to pressurise both Sebastien and Jaime in order to squeeze out their
best possible performance. However, Alguersuari thinks that the team might not make any changes during the season.
Helmut Marko came up with a driver development scheme which now has a reputation for being one of the best young driver’s training institutions for Formula 1. However, Alguersuari believes that it is quite ‘normal’ that a driver coming from a driver development
program performs better than the other drivers on the grid.
“Sure, but that's what the Red Bull programme has taught us. For us there is nothing more normal than to see Ricciardo, Buemi, Vettel or myself do our best without worrying about the others,” he added.
Since Jaime Alguersuari is a football fan, he explained this situation using a football analogy in order to clear out what he means to say. He said Red Bull were like Barcelona, building their drivers when they are 15 while Ferrari were like Real Madrid,
buying the most expensive players in the market.
Nevertheless, Alguersuari believes that Daniel Ricciardo will not let the team down and will definitely learn a lot during this experience before he becomes a full season driver in the sport.
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