Red Bull New Boy Ricciardo 'Will Not Be Vettel's Number 2' (Apparently)

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner has stressed that newly signed Daniel Ricciardo will get equal treatment with team-mate Sebastian Vettel when he joins the team next year.

The Australian was announced as Mark Webber's successor at the team on Monday. Some have suggested that he will directly take over Webber's role as the team's second driver, but Horner is adamant that both he and Vettel will be equal number ones.

He said: "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. 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."

However, we will have to see it to believe it. Red Bull has notoriously favoured Vettel over Webber in recent years. Could Red Bull Racing's latest Australian driver face the same fate?

Horner also thinks that people will be surprised by the 24-year-old's pace when he joins the team next season: "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

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."

Despite gushing over the ability that Ricciardo possesses, he concedes that he won't be expecting too much from him: "My expectations of Daniel next season are that he will continue to improve," he said. "He's a young driver, he's inevitably going to make a few mistakes early on but he will learn from them and improve."