Daniel Ricciardo has stated that his debut at this weekend’s British Grand Prix will be a very special and emotional moment for him.
The 22-year-old Australian replaces Narain Karthikeyan at HRT for the rest of the season after impressing for Toro Rosso and Red Bull in testing.
And he said that the opportunity was a dream come true.
“I’m very happy to have my first Formula 1 race coming up in Silverstone,” said Ricciardo in a HRT team preview. “It means a lot to me. I’m sure, as many of us here, we dream it as kids but don’t really believe that one day it will actually happen! It will be a very special moment for me, perhaps a little emotional too.”
He went on to suggest that the deal had been engineered by his alma mater Red Bull, perhaps after Toro Rosso concluded that they were not ready to jettison either Sebastien Buemi or Jaime Alguersuari.
“I am very happy with the deal. I didn’t think I would be racing an F1 car this season so for Red Bull to have found me a seat is awesome and I’m grateful to have this opportunity and the support from both teams.
“Hopefully it won’t take me too long to adapt to the car, in the past I think I’ve adapted well to new environments and cars so I’m confident that by the end of the weekend I will have made strong progress from the start.
“My aim is to finish as many races as I can and get the experience under my belt. I think this is most important for me as a young driver, experience is priceless. Of course, I would also love to bring the car and the team further up the grid and have some successful races.
“For the Silverstone weekend I think my first aim is to finish, physically and mentally this will be a good reward and all part of the learning process.”
