Daniel Ricciardo will be Scuderia Toro Rosso’s third and reserve drive for the 2011 Formula 1 season. This is not just an “honorary” appointment as the 21 year old Australian will drive in the Friday morning free practice sessions at all the Grands Prix, replacing each of our current two drivers in turn.
As already confirmed earlier this year, Scuderia Toro Rosso’s driver line-up of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi remains unchanged for 2011. Ricciardo is a product of the Red Bull Young Driver Programme. This year he came second in the Formula Renault 3.5 series, after winning the 2009 British Formula 3 championship.
Franz Tost: "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.”