Tost: A “difficult” decision to sideline Vergne

Franz Tost, the director of Scuderia Toro Rosso, admitted that the decision to replace Jean-Eric Vergne in favor of Carlos Sainz Jr for 2015 had been difficult to make.

Even though the Frenchman, who made his debut yesterday in Formula E during the Punta del Este round where he notably secured the pole position right from the start, had clearly gained the upper hand over his teammate, Daniil Kvyat – 22 points to 8 – it was the Russian who was chosen to support Ricciardo at Red Bull following Vettel’s departure.

With Jean-Eric, it was a difficult decision to let him go because there is no doubt that he is a very talented driver, but the goal of our team is to bring in young drivers from the Red Bull Junior Team and he has already been with us for three years, Tost stated, as quoted by GPUpdate.

« Our French driver has had more than his share of bad luck this year and could have finished in an impressive 5th place in Monaco, and he delivered another fine performance on a city circuit, finishing 6th in Singapore, » added Franz Tost.

The director of the Faenza team also believes that Vergne’s teammate this year, Daniil Kvyat, is on track to become one of the best drivers on the grid: « Daniil did an excellent job as a rookie and showed in his first year in F1 that he is a very fast driver and has the potential to become one of the best drivers. His strong motivation to learn and succeed, his focus on how to improve his performance during the season, his great talent, and his fighting spirit have given him the chance to improve quickly and get the opportunity to join Red Bull next year. »