- Red Bull
'Talk is cheap' - Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo is looking forward to doing his talking on the track when he goes up against Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull next year, but is quietly confident he will be able to push the four-time champion.
Ricciardo will be promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull over the winter, taking over Mark Webber's role as Vettel's team-mate. Vettel has won four titles and 38 races since joining Red Bull in 2009 and Ricciardo is wary about talking up his chances of beating the German.
"You know what they say, talk is cheap," he said. "So I'm not going to say I'm going to beat him and that's it, but all I can say is that I have confidence in myself and until I go up against him like-for-like and on the same day I really don't know how good I am in comparison to him.
"I know I'm going up against a very strong kid but I have faith that I can give him a bit of a push. We'll soon find out - hopefully I'm not a second off, that would suck!
"I'll try to see what he's doing that's so special."
Next year the drivers will have to get to grips with new V6 turbo engines that produce more torque at a lower rpm. Ricciardo believes drivers will have to be more disciplined with their use of the throttle in order to protect the rear tyres.
"You're probably going to find that the more disciplined drivers are going to cope better; the guys who are able to stop the car a bit more in the corner and straight-line the exit. So not combining the throttle too much with the slip of the tyre and killing the tyre. From what we understand the tyres are going to be much harder next year, so they can probably tolerate a bit more of that."
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