F1: 'I see myself as a pretty complete driver now' - Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo believes he is a "pretty complete driver" after experiencing two very different seasons in Formula 1.

The Red Bull driver established himself as one of grand prix racing's top racers in 2014 after serving his F1 apprenticeship with Toro Rosso, beating his more decorated teammate Sebastian Vettel and securing the first three wins of his career. But Red Bull's chassis was below par early in 2015 and combined with a Renault unit that was down on power and unreliable, the Australian was unable to continue that good form, scoring just two podiums.

"I've experienced most things now and it's made me appreciate things," said Ricciardo. "In 2014, I was grateful for the podiums and wins I had, and after having some tough races last year, I appreciate the good moments even more.

"I just appreciate my position in the sport, being in the sport and being with a top team. I see myself as a pretty complete driver now – I don't want to be naive and I can always learn and keep evolving."

There was speculation linking Ricciardo with Ferrari last season, something that he regarded as "a compliment" at the time, but he does not plan to start thinking about 2017 until midway through the season.

"I'm not looking that far forward yet," he said. "I don't tend to look too far ahead anyway as a lot of things can happen.

"I definitely want to get the season started and make sure I start on the right foot and get myself where I need to be. Then as the season reaches the midpoint you can start thinking about 2017 and all the rest of it.

"For now it's just about this year. My two years with Red Bull have been pretty different. I've had highs and lows, we've gone through quite a bit together and now we have some good stability. I've got the same engineers and I think this year can be a very good one for us, so I'm excited."

With Daniil Kvyat behind the wheel on the first and third days of this week's final test, Ricciardo will drive Red Bull's RB12 on Wednesday and Friday.

Originally on Autosport.com