The best racing drivers excel in the wet and young Australian Daniel Ricciardo did just that in the first practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix, earning fresh endorsement for a Formula One race drive next year.

Rookie Ricciardo was in the top third of drivers - eighth of 24 - in the drenched Friday morning practice session at the Istanbul circuit ahead of this weekend's fourth race in the world championship.

Franz Tost, the Austrian who heads Red Bull's second F1 team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, was delighted with 21-year-old Ricciardo's performance and said it was all preparation for him racing in GPs next year.

Ricciardo headed Toro Rosso race driver, Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi, by 0084 seconds on the timesheet.

As usual, the Perth driver had to hand over the car he drove to Toro Rosso's other race driver, Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari, for Friday's second session.

"This was my very first time driving at the Istanbul track and the session went well, giving me an understanding of why drivers are so keen on this circuit, with all its undulations and different types of corner," Ricciardo said.

"I enjoyed it, even if the conditions were not ideal.

"It was useful to drive in the wet, because this was only the second time I've had that experience (in an F1 car) after a few laps at Barcelona in (northern) winter testing.

"I felt confident and comfortable in the wet and I ran just with the extreme rain tyres.

"We considered intermediates, but there was too much standing water on the track.

"We made some set-up changes before my second run and, even though the track was wetter then, it improved the lap time, so hopefully that information can be useful to the team."

Tost was asked in an official F1 press conference later in the day about Ricciardo's progress.

"The situation is that he is driving for Toro Rosso the first practice on Friday (at every GP)," Tost said.

"He should learn the team, all the race tracks, to work together with the engineers, get a little bit of knowledge about the press work, about the marketing and this should be the preparation for him to race for Toro Rosso in 2012."

There has been speculation that Ricciardo might be installed as a race driver mid-season, if Buemi or Jaime Alguersuari do not meet Red Bull's expectations.

However, Tost said: "No, currently not."