Jean-Eric Vergne should remain with Toro Rosso in 2014
Daniel Ricciardo appears to be the best positioned among the Toro Rosso drivers to be with Red Bull in 2014. As for Jean-Eric Vergne, he is expected to keep his seat at Toro Rosso for a third season.
When Mark Webber announced at Silverstone that he was leaving F1 and Red Bull at the end of the season, he kicked off the major game of the transfer market. Sébastien Buemi, the team’s third driver, was the first to be ruled out by Christian Horner, who announced it at the Friday press conference.
The race now seems to be shaping up between Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Räikkönen as the leader of the world champions believes that the Australian has more F1 experience than his teammate at Toro Rosso, since Red Bull placed him with HRT for six months before giving him a permanent position within the Italian team.
However, if the Frenchman is not promoted within the parent company, it does not mean that he is sidelined from the entire sector. This is what Franz Tost wanted to affirm at the start of the weekend in Budapest: “I am convinced that Jean-Eric will be racing with Toro Rosso next year. We must not forget that Jean-Eric arrived later in F1, and the reason why Red Bull Racing is considering running Daniel Ricciardo next season is simply because he has more experience and has been very competitive in the first half of the season. But Jean-Eric Vergne is close to him. This does not mean that Jean-Eric will leave the team. In my opinion, next year, he will be with Toro Rosso.”
It is interesting to put Franz Tost’s comments into perspective: if he states that Daniel Ricciardo has been more performant than his teammate since the beginning of the season (which is indisputable in terms of pure speed in qualifying), it doesn’t change the fact that the Frenchman is ahead of him in the championship, with 13 points compared to 11. Last year, despite his lack of experience highlighted today, he also finished ahead of the Australian, with 16 points scored compared to only 10.
Faced with these statements, the French driver plays the communication game and insists he’s delighted to stay another season in the Faenza seat: « To be honest, I would be very happy to stay at Toro Rosso next year. Obviously, it would be a dream to move to Red Bull Racing, but I really believe in this team and especially in the people who work here. They are making a lot of effort for next year’s car, and I think we can have a good season next year, and the car will be much better than the one we currently have. Everyone will be starting from scratch. So we have every chance to be a better team. »
If Daniel Ricciardo’s transfer were to materialize, the leading candidate to replace him would be Antonio Felix da Costa, who is currently making his way in the World Series by Renault.
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
