Vergne: Toro Rosso wants to move into top five

Jean-Éric Vergne will play his third consecutive season with Toro Rosso after losing his duel against Daniel Ricciardo to replace Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing. Despite this disappointment, the Frenchman retains all his motivation at the moment when the F1 begins a new chapter by having a completely revised regulation that could redistribute the cards. The Faenza team needs it after a difficult 2013 season where it only took eighth place in the Constructors' Championship.

“I think the mentality has changed.”, admitted JEV on Crash.net. “The team clearly wants to become a good team capable of fighting in the top five more often, compared to last year and the seasons before, and they needed to make many changes to achieve this. Change in F1 doesn't happen in a year, it remains a long process and the direction taken by Toro Rosso is quite impressive. I really hope everyone sees this year that we have progressed because last year was not a good season for us. We showed no progress even though everything was changing in the team. »

Among the points that are changing for Toro Rosso this season, one of the most important is undoubtedly the change of the engine manufacturer Ferrari à Renault. The first tests of the 6l V1.6 turbo / hybrid Viruses-Châtillon have not been very positive, but the Losange still has time to turn things around with the Australian Grand Prix scheduled for March 16. “We have a new engine manufacturer and relations with Renault will be completely different”, specifies Jean-Éric Vergne. “It will be a plus to be with them because we will be able to chat well together since they are French. »