Before HRT could release an official statement, Daniel Ricciardo confirmed reports he will be making his formula one race debut next Sunday.
It is now widely reported that the Australian, who turns 22 on Friday, will replace Spanish team Hispania’s Indian regular Narain Karthikeyan from Silverstone.
"It’s pretty, pretty exciting," he told the Herald Sun newspaper at Heathrow airport, where he was departing for Budapest for his next Formula Renault 3.5 race.
"It’s awesome, just awesome," added Ricciardo, the Red Bull-backed youngster who in 2011 has been the Friday driver at the energy drink company’s junior Toro Rosso team.
The Herald Sun said Ricciardo is being loaned by Red Bull to HRT.
"To make the first one at Silverstone, it’s great," Ricciardo said. "It’s a circuit I know well and it’s just up the road from my second home in Britain."