Young Ricciardo aims for the no. 3 driver position at Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo has set his sights on becoming the test and reserve driver for Red Bull after an impressive testing session in Jerez on Tuesday. The British Formula 3 champion completed more laps than anyone else and finished fourth among the 12 drivers who participated.

When asked by Autosport about his plans, the 20-year-old Australian who is joining Tech 1 in Formula Renault 3.5 next year, said: « It would be great to achieve something in 2010. We’ll see how the tests go, but nothing has been promised in advance. If these tests go well, then a position could be at stake. »

The boss of the Red Bull Racing team, Christian Horner, stated that he was very impressed with Ricciardo’s performance during his test day, despite a spin: « Our engineers were already very satisfied with the work he had done in the simulator. He also had a very good first day in the car. More than 110 laps and few signs of fatigue. »

The spin does not penalize him at all because he showed a lot of maturity to do as well subsequently. We will see after these initial tests, but he is a very promising young talent with a very good learning level. We will analyze this test and make a decision on the reserve driver role during the winter.