Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner has stressed that Sebastian Vettel and new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo will both be treated as equals.
Horner dismissed claims that Ricciardo will be the team's number two driver next season. The Australian was announced as Mark Webber's successor on Monday.
The team are promising to give them equal treatment, with Horner saying: ""The decision to take a junior driver doesn't mean anything changes. Both drivers will get the same opportunity and the same equipment, but inevitably there will be a natural pecking order determined by the driver who is in front on track."
He added: "Sebastian has won a lot of races and is a multiple World Champion, so with that comes a lot of expectation. But the reality is that both drivers, as has always been the case, will get identical opportunity and equipment."
The Red Bull Racing boss believes Ricciardo is quicker than a lot of people give him credit for, admitting: "Daniel is very quick and we know he's very quick and Sebastian is the best in the business at the moment. It's very tough to be his [Vettel's] team-mate so it will be a big surprise for him. But I think people are going to be surprised at the pace that Daniel does have. We've seen it at the simulator and at track tests, and we've seen flashes in the Toro Rosso.
"I think he really does have a natural ability. He's a good personality, a good guy to work with and I've never seen him yet without a smile on his face. For sure, now he will be smiling from ear to ear."
However he concedes that the 24-year-old won't be scoring race victories out of the box, saying it will be a steep learning curve for the Toro Rosso driver: "My expectations of Daniel next season are that he will continue to improve. He's a young driver, he's inevitably going to make a few mistakes early on but he will learn from them and improve. This is very much a medium- and long-term view that we are taking in developing him. Of the current crop of youngsters he is genuinely an exciting prospect."
Ricciardo joined Red Bull's Junior Team in 2008, gaining vital financial backing and training as he went through the junior ranks. After finding success in Formula Renault 3.5 he got his first taste of racing in Formula 1 after a mid-season switch to back-markers HRT.
He joined Toro Rosso in 2012 and has scored 22 points over the last two seasons with a best finish of seventh at this year's Chinese Grand Prix.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
The team are promising to give them equal treatment, with Horner saying: ""The decision to take a junior driver doesn't mean anything changes. Both drivers will get the same opportunity and the same equipment, but inevitably there will be a natural pecking order determined by the driver who is in front on track."
He added: "Sebastian has won a lot of races and is a multiple World Champion, so with that comes a lot of expectation. But the reality is that both drivers, as has always been the case, will get identical opportunity and equipment."
The Red Bull Racing boss believes Ricciardo is quicker than a lot of people give him credit for, admitting: "Daniel is very quick and we know he's very quick and Sebastian is the best in the business at the moment. It's very tough to be his [Vettel's] team-mate so it will be a big surprise for him. But I think people are going to be surprised at the pace that Daniel does have. We've seen it at the simulator and at track tests, and we've seen flashes in the Toro Rosso.
"I think he really does have a natural ability. He's a good personality, a good guy to work with and I've never seen him yet without a smile on his face. For sure, now he will be smiling from ear to ear."
However he concedes that the 24-year-old won't be scoring race victories out of the box, saying it will be a steep learning curve for the Toro Rosso driver: "My expectations of Daniel next season are that he will continue to improve. He's a young driver, he's inevitably going to make a few mistakes early on but he will learn from them and improve. This is very much a medium- and long-term view that we are taking in developing him. Of the current crop of youngsters he is genuinely an exciting prospect."
Ricciardo joined Red Bull's Junior Team in 2008, gaining vital financial backing and training as he went through the junior ranks. After finding success in Formula Renault 3.5 he got his first taste of racing in Formula 1 after a mid-season switch to back-markers HRT.
He joined Toro Rosso in 2012 and has scored 22 points over the last two seasons with a best finish of seventh at this year's Chinese Grand Prix.
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