Youngster
Daniel Ricciardo will be Scuderia Toro Rosso’s third and
reserve driver for the 2011 Formula 1 season. This will not
be
just an “honorary” appointment however as the 21 year
old Australian will drive during the Friday morning free
practice sessions at all the grands prix, replacing each
of the current two drivers in turn.
As already confirmed by the
Faenza, Italy-based outfit earlier this
year, Scuderia Toro Rosso’s current driver line-up of
Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari and Swiss Sebastien Buemi
will remain unchanged for the 2011 season.
Ricciardo is a product of the
Red Bull Young Driver Programme. This year he came
second in the Formula Renault 3.5 series this year after winning
the 2009 British Formula 3 championship. Ten days ago
Ricciardo came out on top of the timesheets during both
days of the official F1 young driver test that followed
on from the final grand prix of the season in Abu Dhabi
at the wheel of this year's championship-winning Red
Bull F1 single-seater.
Franz Tost (Team Principal)
"When our team was created,
its stated aim was to bring on young drivers from the
Red Bull Junior Programme, so Daniel's appointment as
our third driver is an obvious one. Although Daniel has
done some F1 testing already, running on Fridays at the
Grands Prix will give him a valuable insight into the
additional pressures of doing it for real during a race
weekend. I am also sure that having a hungry youngster
on the books will keep our current driver pairing nice
and sharp!"
Daniel Ricciardo
“I am really excited at the
prospect of driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso in the Free
Practice 1 sessions at the Grands Prix next year, so I
have to say thanks to Red Bull for this great
opportunity. My main priority for 2011 is to win the
Formula Renault 3.5 championship, but 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.”
