New Toro Rosso driver Daniel Ricciardo has said that he will need to adopt a more aggressive approach to racing in 2012, with the Australian driver set to make the step up to the F1 midfield with the Red Bull junior team.
Ricciardo raced for HRT in the second half of 2011, in a loan deal from the Red Bull team, but will switch to Toro Rosso next season.
The Australian driver acquitted himself well at the Spanish backmarkers, but has admitted that he will need to make improvements in his driving to give a good showing in 2012.
"I know I've got it but it's probably not consistent enough and at Formula One now it has to be as good as it can be," he rambled to the Australian Associated Press this week.
He went on: "I think my actual starts are OK, the initial reaction off the line is fine.
"But a few times this year I got a good start and jumped the car off the line but maybe didn't go hard enough into the first corner or went for the safer inside line.
"I probably need a little bit more aggression which I guess will come with experience at this level."
He added that he had always been confident that he had done enough in his cameo stint at HRT to secure a better driver within the Red Bull junior squad.
"I honestly believe I did a good enough job this year to be somewhere on the grid and that was the feeling I got from all the big guys at Red Bull," he mused.
"There were definitely some positive moments which kept them happy."
For 2012, he will be paired with F1 rookie Jean-Eric Vergne, who impressed during the recent Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi.
And the pair of young Red Bull proteges could well be in a year-long shootout for the second seat at Red Bull in 2013, should Mark Webber call it a day at the end of next season.
On the subject of his team mate, Ricciardo suggested that he was prepared to learn about the aggressive aspect of driving from the Frenchman.
"He's got potential and he's quick," he muttered regarding Vergne, "We drive quite similar but he has probably what I don't have in the aggressive side.
"So maybe I can learn from him, at least in the junior categories that's been his style."
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