The subs’ bench for Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso will be an all-Australasian affair for 2010, as the two teams confirm their reserve drivers: Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo and New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley. The two drivers, who are both members of the Red Bull Junior Team, will alternate the reserve driver duties on a race by race basis.
Daniel is the reigning champion of the British Formula 3 series. A native of Perth, the 20-year-old made a name for himself when his racing career bought him to Europe. After competing in Formula Renault Italy in 2007, he moved to Formula Renault West European Cup in 2008 and won the title, by taking ten pole positions and eight victories. He moved up a class in 2009 to the British Formula 3 Championship, where six wins and several points-scoring finishes saw him wrap up the Championship with two races to spare.
Ricciardo’s team-mate Brendon (20) hails from Palmerston North in New Zealand. After impressing in Formula Ford and the Toyota Racing Series on home turf, Brendon also moved to Europe to progress his career. In 2006 he contested the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup before winning the Eurocup title with a round to spare in 2007. In 2008 he moved to the British Formula Three Championship where he finished third, before moving to the F3 Euro Series last year.
A recent highlight for the two drivers was taking part in the 2009 end of season F1 test in Jerez. Brendon was at the wheel of the TR4 for Scuderia Toro Rosso, while Daniel drove the RB5 for Red Bull Racing for all three days. After an impressive test, Daniel topped the time-sheets. Both drivers displayed good pace and offered useful feedback which aided the teams in their work ahead of the 2010 season.
While the position of reserve driver can sometimes be seen as one of the less active roles at the track, the position is far from ceremonial. Daniel and Brendon will sit-in on the briefings and debriefs, attend driver meetings and familiarise themselves with the everyday workings of the garage and pit-wall. They will also fulfil marketing commitments for the teams.
