German media outlet Sport Bild are reporting Red Bull Racing will replace one Australian with another ahead of the 2014 season.
Daniel Ricciardo is set to replace Mark Webber as Red Bull’s number two driver behind three-time German world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Sport Bild claims to have obtained the information ahead of Red Bull’s official announcement, expected at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Webber is retiring from Formula One to join Porsche’s revived Le Mans team, initially causing speculation former world champ Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel rival Fernando Alonso could be in the hunt for the Aussie’s job.
“We won’t say anything before Spa, that’s all I can say,” Red Bull’s Helmut Marko told Sport Bild.
Ricciardo, of Perth, enjoyed success in the Red Bull junior driver development program from 2008 before making his big stage debut with Toro Rosso in 2011, but his Red Bull promotion is far from certain as other international media outlets publish conflicting reports.
Italiaracing recently linked Raikkonen with Red Bull with the 24-year-old Ricciardo moving across to Lotus.
Ricciardo would come to Red Bull knowing he’d be behind Vettel as the number two driver for the foreseeable future.
“Of course (I would not expect equal status) at the start of the season,” Ricciardo told Sport Bild. “But I’m in Formula One to be the best.”
Webber has been in a number of well documented conflicts with Vettel in recent times, but that isn’t something that worries Ricciardo.
“I know Seb quite well,” he said, “as I was the reserve driver in 2010. I was out for dinner with him a few times and we get on really well.”
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Peter Fox, Getty Images.
