Jean-Eric Vergne started in F1 at Toro Rosso in 2012

We are definitely not at the end of our surprises regarding transfers in Formula 1. If we were already delighted to have two French people in F1, we will finally have three! Toro Rosso decided to part ways with Jaime Alguersuari and Sébastien Buemi, to make way for their two young shoots, the Australian Daniel Ricciardo and the Tricolor Jean-Eric Vergne. The press release indicates that this agreement was of course made in full agreement with Red Bull. This is the first time since 2006, with Liuzzi and Speed, that the Italian team will start the season with two Rookies.

"I am delighted that we have managed to make a decision early enough on our drivers for next year, as it means that we can now all focus on 2012, without any distractions, underlines boss Franz Tost. In recent years, Daniel and Jean-Eric have demonstrated their respective qualities, and I expect them to participate fully in the team?s performances next year. Daniel has the benefit of having participated in a number of Grands Prix this year. Jean-Eric, for his part, showed that he could adapt quickly to what driving a Formula 1 car requires. The fact that they have both worked with the team and the engineers very recently should allow us to to be in the game from the start of the pre-season tests in a few months. We must remember that when Toro Rosso was born in 2005, it was clear that the aim was to allow young drivers from the Red Bull Junior Team to take their first steps in Formula 1. So it is part of the culture of the team to change its driver line-up from time to time in order to accomplish this mission”.

Discover in your issue of AUTOhebdo, currently on newsstands, a ten-page file on the presence of Romain Grosjean and Charles Pic on the starting grids of the 1 F2012 season.