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Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost has all but confirmed Australian youngster Daniel Ricciardo will drive with the Formula One team in 2012.
Ricciardo, a part of Toro Rosso’s sister team Red Bull Racing’s junior program, has long been believed to be on the verge of a drive for next year.
But speaking before this weekend’s Turkish grand prix in Istanbul, Tost gave the strongest hint yet that the 21-year-old West Australian would become a fully-fledged Formula One driver.
“He should learn the team, all the race tracks,” Tost said.
“Work together with the engineers, get a little bit of knowledge about the press work, about the marketing and this should be the preparation for him to race for Toro Rosso in 2012.”
Ricciardo, the 2009 British Formula Three champion, has been travelling with Toro Rosso throughout the 2011 season to drive the team’s car on Friday morning practice sessions.
But Tost denied Ricciardo would be replacing current drivers Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari at any point this year, despite the Australian posting a faster time in Friday’s first session in Istanbul than Swiss driver Buemi.
Ricciardo finished eighth of the 24 drivers who took to the track in wet conditions on Friday before he handed the car back to Alguersuari.
“This was my very first time driving at the Istanbul track and the session went well, giving me an understanding of why drivers are so keen on this circuit, with all its undulations and different types of corner,” Ricciardo said.
“I enjoyed it, even if the conditions were not ideal.
“It was useful to drive in the wet, because this was only the second time I’ve had that experience (in an F1 car) after a few laps at Barcelona in (northern) winter testing.”
Toro Rosso was the team where current world champion Sebastian Vettel began his Formula One career in 2007 and 2008 before moving to Red Bull Racing.
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