Who will support Vergne at Toro Rosso in 2014?

While Daniel Ricciardo has been confirmed alongside Vettel at Red Bull in 2014, Jean-Eric Vergne has been confirmed with the Toro Rosso team for a third consecutive season.

The Frenchman has been confirmed within the Italian team for 2014 by Helmut Marko on the microphone of Servus TV: « Jean-Eric will have another opportunity next year with Toro Rosso. He is a bit younger [than Ricciardo] – he just needs to be patient. »

Logic would dictate that Red Bull chooses one of the members of its program for young drivers, the most experienced being Antonio Felix da Costa in this case. The Portuguese driver – currently 5th in the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, far from the two drivers nurtured by McLaren, Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne – knows that it’s up to him to show that he deserves this seat.

« Now, we know that the opportunity is officially present and everything depends on my results in the World Series [by Renault]. It doesn’t affect my concentration. It’s additional pressure, but maybe we can take it and turn it into positive pressure. I can’t tell myself ‘people always talk about F1, and what if I don’t make it?’. The way I have to think is that if people talk about me in F1, it’s because I’m a good driver. I know that if I have a good season, the rest will come. That’s the way I have to see things, » said Antonio Felix da Costa to Autosport.

In any case, it seems unlikely that Sébastien Buemi will be offered a second chance by Red Bull. The Swiss driver hopes to return to F1 one day, but as he told *Totalrace*, he knows it won’t be easy: « The doors are still open, but nowadays it’s very difficult because of the financial situation. It’s not easy when [the teams] are looking for [drivers with] money. My goal is to return to Formula 1, of course. But I’m happy to be here [with Toyota]. It’s a great car, we’re at the forefront, and I’m doing my best to succeed. I’m happy with the situation at Toyota and what I’m doing with Red Bull, so why not continue like this for another year? »

Besides Felix da Costa and Buemi, Red Bull might also decide to offer the seat left vacant by Ricciardo to Carlos Sainz Jr, even though the Spaniard still seems too inexperienced to start in F1. Another possibility also leads to the Brazilian Felipe Nasr, who, with the help of his sponsors – Banco do Brasil, OGX, and Sky Brazil – could secure this seat, even though the team hasn’t run a driver outside the Red Bull program for several seasons.

In any case, on the Toro Rosso side, there is no rush to announce the name of the Australian’s replacement, as Franz Tost, the director of the Italian team, revealed: As for who will replace Daniel at Toro Rosso in 2014, we will study all our options and make a decision later, as there is no need to hurry.