Jerome d'Ambrosio believes he can outpace his Virgin Racing team-mate Timo Glock in his rookie season.
Despite Virgin being one of the last teams to launch their 2011 car, the VR-02, d'Ambrosio is confident he will not be hindered by the lack of track time ahead of the new season.
Driving for Renault, the Belgian finished second at the young driver test in Abu Dhabi in November behind Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and ahead of Mercedes' Sam Bird and Gary Paffett in the McLaren.
And despite his inexperience he is expecting big things when the season kicks off in Bahrain on March 13.
"Obviously it is difficult for me to say how good our car will be," d'Ambrosio said. "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.
"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."
D'Ambrosio, 25, replaces Lucas di Grassi, and he believes he can push Glock from the beginning.
"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," he said.
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