Vergne narrowly misses out on points in Melbourne

Jean-Eric Vergne battled throughout last weekend for a top ten finish at the Australian Grand Prix. If the Toro Rosso STR8 seemed to be clearly behind during free practice, the Frenchman took advantage of the soggy conditions to show off and even had his chances for a place in Q3. ?When I came back through the pits to change my intermediate tyres, I expected to be given the same type of rubber, but my team chose the slicks. I think they had more data than me to make that decision, but it turned out to be the wrong choice and it prevented me from reaching Q3. It's a shame. »

Starting from 13th place on the starting grid, JEV battled for a long time for a place in the top ten and seemed to be able to get into the points at the end of the first race of the season, but a slight error was enough so that he loses positions. “It was a hot start. I was pushed out and had to go through the gravel. After that, my first stint with the Option tires (super soft) was average, but on Prime tires (medium) it worked very well. I was in the points for a few turns at the end of the race, but when I passed Romain Grosjean, I flattened my front tires and missed my braking point while trying to catch Jenson Button. »

If the comparison with Daniel Ricciardo cannot be done given that the Australian retired with an exhaust problem, Jean-Eric Vergne dominated his Australian teammate this weekend and gained the confidence necessary to tackle the next Sepang event this weekend where he had scored his first points in F1 by standing out in the rain often present in Malaysia. “I think we demonstrated this weekend that we have a car competitive with which we should be able to aim for points in each race. So I'm a little disappointed not to have scored here, but my hopes for the next races are higher than at the start of the weekend. I really believe that fundamentally we have a good car. »

Discover the analysis of the Australian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.