Rookie Daniel Ricciardo in the driver’s seat
Formula One’s Toro Rosso team announced that Rookie Daniel Ricciardo will drive in Friday practice sessions at every Grand Prix event in 2011.
As a student of Red Bull’s driver development system, the Australian caused jaws to drop at the recent Abu Dhabi rookie test which took place on November 16-17. During the test, he came a quarter of a second off Sebastian Vettel’s pole position time for
the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
With a very promising potential future in F1, Ricciardo will be working with the Toro Rosso team, replacing one of their drivers, Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari who will alternate stepping aside for the 21-year-old upstart during the Friday practices.
Welcoming Ricciardo’s promotion, team boss Franz Tost quipped that the move would keep Buemi and Alguersuari on their toes. "I am sure that having a hungry youngster on the books will keep our current driver pairing nice and sharp!"
Tost went on reaffirm Toro Rosso’s mandate of honing and developing the skills of young new talent. "When our team was created, its stated aim was to bring on young drivers from the Red Bull Junior Programme. Daniel's appointment as our third driver is
an obvious one."
Indeed, such a move will be integral to Ricciardo’s professional formation. Now that the rookie will be involved in Friday tests, he will garner valuable insights into the additional pressures of doing it for real during a race weekend.
In addition to his work with Toro Rosso, Ricciardo will also race in the Formula Renault 3.5 series again next season. Given his impressive debut this year, finishing second in the championship, many see him as
the top contender.
Although excited by his budding prospects, Ricciardo is determined to remain focused and grounded.
"I am really excited at the prospect of driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso in the free practice one sessions at the grands prix next year,” the rookie said. "My ultimate aim is to be a full-time Formula 1 driver and this new role has to be the best step towards
achieving that ambition."
Given Ricciardo’s recent string of good fortune, it would seem his engines are revving for a promising future in Formula One.
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