Vergne would have preferred a more experienced teammate

The Toro Rosso team decided to have Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne race for the 2012 season. The Frenchman has been quite pleased with his start of the season so far, although he believes he could have done better at certain times. Nevertheless, he managed to score his first points during his second race in Malaysia.

But he still believes he has work to do to be better, especially in qualifying, as he said, quoted by the Canadian daily La Presse: “These are my beginnings in F1, there have been good moments and less good ones. I am here to learn and I have learned a lot. I think we can be satisfied and on the other hand, we could have done better. There is always the side of oneself that is satisfied and the other side that wants to do better. And when there are still things we want to do better, it’s because we’re not there yet and we need to work.”

If Vergne is starting in F1 this year, it’s not the case for Ricciardo, who participated in 11 F1 Grand Prix in 2011 with HRT. But that doesn’t make a big difference in the end, and Vergne admitted that he would have preferred to have a more experienced driver by his side to learn even faster: « It’s definitely easier to enter F1 with a teammate who has more experience because you always learn from your teammates. »

But Vergne confided that there was a very good rapport with Daniel Ricciardo because the two men have known each other well and for a long time: « But we have a very good relationship, (Ricciardo) and I. We have known each other for a long time, we joined the development program together, and we raced together in Formula Renault for a year. We had a lot of fun, spent good times, and even took our vacations together. He is a good guy and a great driver. I think we are both progressing well. »