Ricciardo aims to beat Liuzzi and the Virgin drivers as season progresses

The 22-year-old Australian made his grand prix debut at the British Grand Prix, replacing Narain Karthikeyan at the Spanish squad.

The Australian finished in 18th position in the last race in Hungary, having been 19th in the previous two races.

Ricciardo reckons he needs more time in the car before he can set bigger targets for himself.

"The target is to continue learning. I think that will come with time in the car," said Ricciardo. "If I could manage to sneak out a personal best result or edge out Tonio and the Virgins in a few races that would be a strong result.

"I have to aim high because it is only going to help me for the future. I think that for the last few races of the year I can really start to push and aim for it."

Ricciardo also believes it will not be easy to outperform Liuzzi, and even harder to beat the Italian's season-best result of 13th in the Canadian Grand Prix.

"I think the result in Canada was really good, Tonio has proved he is a very capable driver and I think he will be tough to beat," he said. "In Silverstone I was quite off his pace. I knew it would take a bit of time but you always want a bit more. But it was very clear to me that I have a strong team-mate.

"It is going to take my best efforts to really try and get in front of him and to push for a personal best result for the team. I don't think it is going to come through luck; it's just going to be hard work for now.

"I really have to soak in as much information as I can to try and become the driver I want to be and, hopefully, the one who maybe gets a personal best result for HRT one day."