Daniel Ricciardo has been confirmed as Toro Rosso’s third driver for 2011 – and the Aussie will also appear on Friday mornings on race weekends, replacing either Sebastien Buemi or Jaime Alguersuari.
Ricciardo, who impressed when he drove the Red Bull RB6 at the recent rookie test in Abu Dhabi, will also continue in the Renault 3.5 series.
Team boss Franz Tost said: “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!”
Ricciardo added: “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.”
Adam Cooper F1 
It’s a bit of a harsh decision for the 2 race drivers considering they’re not exactly experienced and need as much mileage in season as possible. TR aren’t exactly shy at playing mid season musical chairs either. Does Vettel’s championship form at RBR after 1.5 seasons at TR mean that 1.5 – 2 yrs is all new recruits can expect to showcase their potential? Again, a bit harsh considering the relative competitiveness of the STR5 vs STR3 (say).
Maybe it will help them though. Neither have been spectacular. JA seems to be building up but SB seems nothing more than solid to me.
Then again when BMW brought Kubica on a few years back heidfeld suddenly found speed so maybe it will help everyone.
Great news for Ricciardo. I think he’s a real talent.
I’d like to this as compulsory for all teams for the both the Friday sessions. Each race driver sits out one session, alternating every other race.
F1 needs to find a way to give young drivers some seat time, and this seems like a good way to do it.
Its odd that he’s going to do FR3.5 again, I would’ve thought that GP2 would be a better bet. However, maybe they want to see how he goes against Vergne?
I always find it strange when a team principle such as Franz Tost makes a comment or statemenr to the effect that a new guy to the team will keep the current drivers on there toes!
If I felt that was the case and my current drivers needed that sort of “motivation” then they would a) have a talk with me about why they needed such motivayion and then b) they would be out looking for work.