Toro Rosso: Vergne and Ricciardo are not friends and they own it
Teammates but nevertheless rivals, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo state that while they are not friends outside of racing, this does not prevent them from collaborating in the interest of the Scuderia Toro Rosso.
In Formula 1, because they generally have the same equipment as you, your teammate is naturally your first rival. While history is full of relationships between teammates that have gone sour, it remains true that even without reaching such extremes, it is often difficult for two teammates to form friendships, and even more difficult when the stakes of their rivalry are high.
Teammates at Toro Rosso since 2012 and both nurtured in the Red Bull program for many years, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo are starting their second year of collaboration within the Faenza team, each aiming to be the best positioned at the end of the season to possibly replace Mark Webber if the Australian were to leave Red Bull at the end of his contract. Interviewed by the Australian newspaper The Age, the Frenchman admits not having a friendship with his teammate: “I don’t know if it’s because we are in Formula 1 or because he thinks he beat me, which means we can no longer maintain a relationship, but we don’t see each other outside of the circuits and we are not friends,” confides JEV. “But to be absolutely honest, it doesn’t bother me. He’s a great guy. We are two smart people.”
The Frenchman does not believe that this is a hindrance for the team, as the working relationships remain harmonious: « I have absolutely no problem with that because when the time comes where we need to work together to improve the car and move the team forward, we can do it. We have good working relationships. I don’t care about going on vacation with my teammate. I have my friends and I have enough of them not to need more. »
For his part, Daniel Ricciardo considers the distance that has developed between him and Jean-Eric Vergne to be natural, even seeing it as positive: « We never came to blows or anything like that. There wasn’t a particular moment that broke our friendship, it just happened on its own. I suppose we’re like most teammates. We don’t really talk outside of the circuits. We each do our own things. In fact, I think that’s how it should be. I think that when you are in direct competition with someone, you want to have your own space. I believe it would be quite difficult to maintain a real friendship because, in the end, we might be fighting for the same place, and there can’t be a conservative approach. So I think it’s good to keep our distance. »
For the Australian, beating Jean-Eric Vergne is just the cherry on the cake: « The team’s goal is to get ahead of some of the rivals we think we can compete with. This group consists of Force India, Williams, and Sauber. […] For me, the goal is to score as many points as I can and to get the most out of the car. Obviously, beating Jean-Eric in every qualification and in every race is also a goal: convincing results that would give me the edge over him and perhaps over others. »
