Vergne: « I feel much better than last year »
Jean-Eric Vergne is in his third year within Red Bull Racing - Renault's junior team: Scuderia Toro Rosso. He is currently the best-ranked French driver in this 2014 F1 season. For him, there is still ample room for improving his performance.
The 24-year-old Frenchman enters the fifth round of the year, the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, with only 4 points on the scoreboard (tied with his teammate, Russian Daniil Kvyat). Jean-Eric Vergne, aka JEV, still believes, for the AFP, that the assessment [is] very positive, even if it is not necessarily what people feel from the outside. Sometimes there are things that are not said, which could explain poor results.
JEV claims that the Italian team has all the elements to improve the car and seek better results. The team must learn to work with a new supplier on an entirely new engine: « Toro Rosso has done a very good job with the people at Renault, to properly adapt the engine in the car and to understand the use of energy in the race. »
« We know which direction to go and we know that we will be able to seek performance. We started the season with a car that was too heavy, it lost weight race after race, and when we get there, it will change a lot of things. The positive side is that I have a few tenths in my pocket and the day everything is aligned, it will make my life easier. »
« Do not look for excuses »
Jean-Eric declared at the beginning of the season to be handicapped by his weight in the car. The new regulations impose a very low minimum vehicle weight. With the driver on board, this weight is difficult to achieve. In a sport where a few kilos can make a difference, the lightest drivers are advantaged. Today he approaches things differently: « I prefer not to look for excuses, keep my head down and continue moving forward. I also feel much better than last year, so I’m able to perform much better, especially in qualifying. »
The qualifications were Vergne’s weak point last year compared to his teammate Daniel Ricciardo: « I learned a lot from him in qualifying and improved that point this season. In the race, I was always able to make a difference. » The Frenchman managed to qualify three times in the top 10 during the first four races. /f1/actualite/17344-polemique-sur-la-perte-de-poids-des-pilotes-danger-ou-gain-de-temps-necessaire-.html.
**A Missed Opportunity at Red Bull Racing**
The Frenchman had a chance to find himself alongside world champion Sebastian Vettel this year, but it was his former Australian teammate who got Red Bull’s nod: « I have no regrets, no heartache, because things happen for certain reasons. Since I was performing at the same level as Daniel for the past two seasons, it shows the level we both had, Daniel and I. […] It really marked me, it even hurt, but I took the winter to reflect. »
JEV remains very focused on himself: « The positive is that I have changed many things and the people who trust me, in the team, have seen this change. […] I race against myself first, especially on a qualifying lap. I am alone behind the wheel and if I start thinking about others, I can’t handle it. »
