Jean-Éric Vergne (Peugeot): “Fighting for poles and victories”

It's a big day for the team Peugeot Sport with the presentation of the 9X8. What do you feel ?

This is the first time I've been an integral part of a program that started from scratch, it's nice to be there from the beginning. Obviously, we drivers didn't draw the car, but we started working on the simulator before we even knew what it looked like. We had a lot of problems, which are normal when developing a car like this. Each new circuit test presents a giant step forward. All the pieces fit together. It also shows that we are getting closer to the first race and it puts a bit of butterflies in our stomach, in the sense that we are starting to get to the heart of the matter: the race. As drivers, this is what we love.

Do you have an idea of ​​where you stand compared to your future competitors?

Impossible to say, because on the one hand, we have never driven on a circuit where Hypercars compete before this weekend in Portimão. The last time they ran here (8 a.m. from Portimão 2021. Ndlr), c’était avec plus de puissance et un peu moins de poids. D’autre part, nous ne connaissons pas notre BoP ni celle que Toyota et Alpine will have in Monza. I can assure you that we will not be left behind. We will be there to fight for poles and victories. We will still work hard if we have to achieve performance. Whether it is at DS in Formula E or at Peugeot at Le Mans, it is in the group's DNA to work very hard for victory, because that is the only thing that interests us.

Peugeot 9X8 © Peugeot Sport

What can you bring from your experience in Formula E and F1 in this program?

Many things. There are technical bridges between the two teams, and everything we learned in Formula E will be useful to Peugeot. This will particularly concern the braking system, the most complex thing to set up and understand in FE. We work a lot in this discipline to optimize energy recovery. What I can bring is my will to win, my experience of Le Mans (4 entries. Editor’s note). I'm not the oldest, but I have a lot to offer as a big brother to keep us all in a good frame of mind when we get to the first race. We must arrive with a lot of humility, because we have a new car compared to Toyota which has been there for several years, Alpine who does a great job as well as all the other manufacturers who arrive (Porsche, Cadillac, Ferrari… Editor’s note).

The idea for this season, and these debuts at Monza, is to learn, in particular how the car will behave in the race?

We have to approach this first race at Monza as if we want to win it. We cannot disembark considering that it is a preparation race and that we will do better in the next one. We have to put pressure on ourselves to get everything ready. I don't want to be there telling ourselves that we could have worked better. It is a state of mind in which the entire team must be in order to constantly give their best and not make any mistakes. It might be a tough first weekend of competition, but we have to give it our best and, even if something bad happens, we will learn.

Do you feel a certain impatience in the team to be at Monza?

We pilots are all looking forward to being there, but the engineers are more excited to be there tomorrow (Saturday. Editor's note) to the tests to be able to answer all the questions they have and see if all the improvements made work.

Was not going to Le Mans this year the most reasonable thing?

I would have loved to have been there, but you have to be realistic. We are not yet ready for Monza, I don't see how we could have been for Le Mans.

What do you still have to work on?

Long stints, a better understanding of the braking system, energy management and tires, etc. We haven't named the pilot crews yet either. There are lots of details that are very important added together end to end. We still have a lot to work on, but we will be ready for Monza.

Are you happy with the development of the car?

Very happy ! The first days were complicated, because we had to wait several hours to complete a tour. As you can imagine, there are plenty of things that go wrong when you send a car created from scratch to the track. It's normal. In the second test, we drove longer. On the third, we started driving without problems and were able to ask ourselves questions about the performance. Then it becomes more efficient, the engine more linear, the braking system works much better and we have a better understanding of the car. The progress was dazzling.

Isn't it frustrating this development period where you have to wait several hours before taking a turn?

I was lucky, I had a Formula E race at that time, but I followed the friends' sentence! (Laughs) It's not frustrating, because we know it and we accept it. When you have a baby born, he's going to cry. It's a funny comparison, but it's kind of the same thing.

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