Daniel Ricciardo, the driver who’ll be testing for the Red Bull Racing team in December, was in Milton Keynes having his seat fitting earlier this week. The 20-year-old Australian racer has been a Red Bull Junior team driver for two seasons, but his F1 debut has come quicker than anticipated.

“No way did I think I’d be getting this at the end of the year,” Daniel said. “I’m feeling very, very excited to be here and to see the seat’s getting done… this is something I’ve dreamed about since I can remember, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

The new driver test in Spain is the finale to a year in which he won the British Formula 3 in his first season in the series. The journey to his first full Formula One trial has also meant an aero test and time in the Factory simulator.

“The F1 car is just a wilder piece of machinery,” said Daniel. “The brakes are probably the biggest thing - the stopping power they have is quite huge. Mentally you have to be more switched on as well as, obviously, everything’s coming at you so much faster.”

Ricciardo will test for Red Bull Racing in Jerez on December 1-3. Team drivers are not allowed to test until February 2010 with this session aimed at drivers with less than three Formula One races under their belts.

Red Bull