Jerome D’Ambrosio believes he will be able to push Timo Glock in 2011 and, on occasion, beat the veteran of 56 grand prix.
The Belgian joined Virgin during the 2010 season as a third driver, competing in Friday practice on four occasions before being promoted to a race seat for the upcoming season, replacing Lucas Di Grassi.
While the Virgin VR-02 will be one of the last cars to debut on track for pre-season testing, D’Ambrosio is hoping the limited running won’t hinder his pre-season learning.
“Obviously it is difficult for me to say how good our car will be. There are many new features this year that weren’t there last season, so I have to wait and see how the car is when we test it for the first time,” he said.
“I did well in the Friday sessions I ran last year, and I didn’t have much track time then. I am entering my first season in F1, so for sure the learning curve is certainly steeper for me than it is for my team-mate.”
Nonetheless, the 25-year-old reckons he’ll be able to challenge Glock by beating him on-track.
“I have a lot to learn, but I am fast, confident in my abilities and able to learn tracks very quickly so I think I can push Timo hard and for sure, on occasion, I think I can beat him.”
