Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he must do a "more than respectable" job if he wants to be promoted by Red Bull for the 2012 season.
The Australian is the current cream of the energy drink company’s young driver programme and since July has been placed with the small HRT team.
But in his three races so far, he has only once outqualified experienced teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi.
While most the F1 world slumbered in August, 22-year-old Ricciardo was in action at the weekend at Silverstone in the Renault World Series.
He has been linked with a move up to Red Bull’s secondary Toro Rosso team for 2012.
"I’ve got to do a more than respectable job at HRT this year and then we’ll see what opens up for next year," Ricciardo is quoted as saying by the West Australian newspaper.
"I obviously have a link with Red Bull but nothing is really guaranteed for the long term."