RedBull have announced that Daniel Ricciardo will be their reserve driver this year, while Brendon Hartley from New Zealand will be the reserve driver for Torro Rosso,

Ricciardo had a very successful 2009, becoming the British Formula 3 Champion and then going on to top the time sheets driving Red Bull’s Formula1 car during the young driver tests at Jerez at the end of last year.

Hartley on the other hand was the third driver for Red Bull and Toro Rosso briefly last year, but was later replaced by Jaime Alguersuari.

Red Bull said in a statement: “Daniel and Brendon will sit-in on the briefings and debriefs, attend driver meetings and familiarise themselves with the everyday workings of the garage and pit wall,”

The two drivers most likely won’t see much time in the cockpit unless their role as reserve driver is required at a GP due to limited testing this year, however it is still a very good stepping stone for both drivers on their way to potential full-time F1 drives.

The Red Bull and Torro Roso Formul1 teams now employ 3 drivers form neighbouring countries, Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo from Australia whilst Brendon Hartley is from New Zealand.

Ricciardo has mentioned in an interview with Western Australian press that Mark Webber is one of his idols, Daniel may just be the man who replaces Mark at RedBull when that time comes.

Red Bull won’t be at the first round of tests in Spain starting next week, instead they will be focusing more on the development of the car at their base.