Young Australian confirmed as Mark Webber's successor
Red Bull have confirmed Daniel Ricciardo will drive for
the team from the start of next season, replacing his fellow Australian Mark
Webber.
Ricciardo, who currently competes for Red Bull's junior
team Toro Rosso, had been considered the front-runner for the coveted drive for
several weeks and will link up with triple World Champion Sebastian Vettel in
the senior team in 2014.
Although Red Bull held off from making an announcement
over the second seat at the last race in Belgium, it was widely thought that
the decision to promote Ricciardo had already been made, talks with the other
serious contender for the position, Kimi Raikkonen, having broken down.
Ricciardo was unveiled as Webber's successor on the Red
Bull-owned Servus TV channel in Austria, with the company's motorsport advisor
Helmut Marko in attendance, while video messages were also shown from Team
Principal Christian Horner and design chief Adrian Newey.
"I feel very, very good at the moment and obviously
there's a lot of excitement running through me," said Ricciardo, who has
competed in 42 grands prix to date for HRT and Toro Rosso.
"Since joining F1 in 2011 I hoped this would happen
and, over time, the belief in me has grown. I had some good results and Red
Bull has decided that this is it, so it's a good time."
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While the driver he will replaces has won nine grands
prix, Ricciardo's best finish in F1 to date is seventh place - however the
young Australian feels he is ready for the step up the grid.
"Next year I'll be with a Championship-winning team,
arguably the best team, and will be expected to deliver. I'm ready for
that," Ricciardo added.
"I'm not here to run around in tenth place, I want
to get the best results for myself and the team. I would like to thank the team
for giving me the opportunity to show what I can do.
"I know the team quite well already since being its
reserve driver in 2010, which should make the transition easier. It will be a
great challenge to be up against Sebastian Vettel, I'm looking forward to
that."
When Webber at the British GP in late June announced his
plans to quit F1 at the end of the season, current Lotus driver Raikkonen was
immediately installed as the favourite to replace him.
However, Ricciardo's chances appeared to have been
strengthened after he was handed the chance to test for Red Bull at the
Silverstone Young Driver Test. Speaking in the press release issued by the team
on Monday night, Horner said the decision to promote the Australian had been
"very logical".
"It's fantastic to confirm Daniel as the team's race
driver for 2014, he's a very talented youngster," Horner said.
"He's committed, he's got a great attitude and, in
the end, it was a very logical choice for us.
"He's got all the attributes that are required to
drive for our team: he's got a great natural ability and he's a good
personality and a great guy to work with.
.
"Daniel knows what the team expects from him. He'll
learn quickly and it's very much a medium to long term view that we're taking
in developing him. The seat within the team is a wonderful opportunity and I
think he's going to be a big star of the future."
Newey, meanwhile, compared Red Bull's decision to promote
Ricciardo to the choice made at Williams in the mid-1990s when they opted to
call up Damon Hill ahead of the vastly experienced Riccardo Patrese alongside
Alain Prost.
"I think it's good to bring young blood in and give
promising drivers a chance," added the Red Bull technical boss.
The expected announcement means that focus will now
definitively turn to Raikkonen's plans, with the Finn now either set to stay at
Lotus into a third season or even make a surprise return to Ferrari.
The news also ends what had been the highly unlikely
prospect of Ferrari's star asset Fernando Alonso defecting to Red Bull, the F1
rumour mill having been sent into overrdrive during the summer break after the
Spaniard's manager spoke to Horner in Hungary.
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