Vettel gives his opinion on Grosjean and Vergne

During his visit to France, where he notably visited the Renault Technocentre, the Red Bull driver answered questions from Automoto, TF1’s Sunday automotive magazine. The German particularly shared his opinion on two of the three French drivers who are lined up on the starting grids this season.

After delivering a noteworthy performance in Australia, Romain Grosjean went from one missed opportunity to another, whether in Melbourne by colliding with the surprising Pastor Maldonado, or in Sepang the following week by colliding this time with Michael Schumacher, after having made a thunderous start: “I think Grosjean is really very fast. He proved it in qualifying, especially in Australia, where he was third on the starting grid. During the races, he hasn’t done many laps, but we need to give him time… Formula 1 is very different from Formula 3 or GP2, the races are much longer. Of course, we always want to gain places in the first laps, but we must understand that the races are long, anything can happen,” explains the two-time reigning world champion before adding that he is sure “everything will be fine for Grosjean.”

Aside from the Lotus driver, France also has Jean-Eric Vergne as a second flag-bearer capable of regularly scoring points. The Toro Rosso driver, who missed out on points in Australia, bounced back in Malaysia by delivering a solid race and getting on the board in the drivers’ championship, something Romain Grosjean still needs to achieve: « Jean-Eric Vergne has a lot of potential as well. He is part of the Red Bull family. For him, being at Toro Rosso is a great opportunity; he will have many chances to demonstrate his talent. »

The young Frenchman, a member of the Red Bull program, is one of the two legitimate contenders for a seat within the main team and to succeed Mark Webber. When asked if JEV could become his teammate in 2013, the current Red Bull number 1 responds, in the language of Molière: « On verra! »