Overview
After Daniel Ricciardo got promoted to the big time, Toro Rosso entered 2014 with a driver line up of mixed experience. Jean-Eric Vergne was kept on for a third year and was joined by 2013 GP3 champion, Daniil Kvyat. At 19 years of age, some begrudged the young Russian his chance ahead of the more experienced Antonio Felix da Costa. However, at Helmut Marko’s behest, Kvyat lined up in Melbourne as the sixth youngest debutant in F1 history.
Aside from a seemingly exciting driver line-up, Toro Rosso also fancied its chances in the constructor’s championship. After doing no better than 8th in the previous five seasons, the Faenza squad saw the new turbo V6 era as its big chance to climb the ladder and pick off some bigger midfield opponents.
Things began well enough. In Melbourne, Vergne and Kvyat qualified 6th and 8th and finished 8th and 9th; two double top tens that no one realistically saw coming.
From that point on, the two drivers’ seasons have diverged, with the team only managing one further double top ten, at Silverstone, with Kvyat leading Vergne home for 9th and 10th.
Part of this divergence (in fact, most of it) has been due to reliability. Both drivers have been struck down with repetitive car failures, with 9 retirements in total, 5 of which have befallen Vergne. As with the other three Renault teams, Toro Rosso have struggled massively with engine reliability, and when this isn’t a problem, they’ve found themselves down on power. Renault haven’t been solely to blame though, with a variety of retirements stemming from brakes, driveshafts and exhausts as well. Only 1 of the 9 retirements have been driver-initiated.
Vergne’s unreliability struck early, and he’s finished 4 of the last 5 races, 3 of which have been in the points. In contrast, Kvyat has suffered more recently, after finishing his first 5 races and scoring points in 3.
When the car has been reliable, Toro Rosso have had the seventh quickest car. On a good day, they’re in the mix with the McLarens and Force Indias, but on a bad day, they’re at risk of being swallowed up by Saubers and Lotuses. But for the unreliability, it’s been a solid start for Toro Rosso, and their car clearly has the potential to be at the upper end of the midfield.
17 points is an adequate haul, and it wouldn’t have been turned down by Franz Tost had it been offered to him at the start of the year. But the question does linger in terms of how many more points could have been gained had their cars been there at the end more often. A double top 10 in Monaco qualifying, which became a double retirement on race day, is a perfect synopsis of Toro Rosso’s season to date. Promising, but just short on the delivery.
Jean-Eric Vergne – 11 points / 13th in the Driver’s Championship
Vergne has, to his credit, done an outstanding job so far, in a car that doesn’t flatter him, often doesn’t finish, and quite often looks like an absolute handful. Three seasons in, and his experience is starting to show. At this point, consistency is valued incredibly highly, and Vergne is almost the complete package in this regard. He wouldn’t have been far from promotion to Red Bull last year, and his performances this year reflect the fact that he does actually have similar top line potential to Ricciardo. This is all particularly important for midfield teams like Toro Rosso who are fighting for every scrap of a point (and dollar of prize money). Qualifying high and finishing in one piece really matter (a lesson for Esteban Gutierrez perhaps), and Vergne’s ability to (on all but the rarest of occasions) deliver this, means for me, he’s easily inside the top 10 drivers for the year.
Qualifying has been a strong point, with 7 appearances in Q3 and an advantage over his team-mate in terms of pace and position. Q3 isn’t always possible, and on each of the 4 occasions it wasn’t, he’s been beaten by Kvyat. They haven’t been Maldonado-esque meltdowns, but this is the 10% extra required to be the complete package – qualifying 11th or 12th on the days when the car isn’t to your liking.
On race day, Vergne has delivered, only missing the points twice when the car has finished. Most importantly, his racecraft has been near-faultless, not tripping over anyone or throwing points away unnecessarily.
8/10 – really close to the finished product – half a season more and he will be ready.
Daniil Kvyat – 6 points / 15th in the Driver’s Championship
For a 19 year old with one season of racing above Formula Renault, Kvyat’s debut season has been astonishing. To come up against a team-mate who had more junior formulae experience and a 2 year head start in F1 and be close, if not right with him, is a remarkable achievement. To qualify so consistently, within a couple tenths of Vergne, and to score points so quickly and so regularly is sign of prodigious talent, great potential and that highly sought after final 10%: consistency. Therefore, in context, the odd rookie error is entirely forgiveable, and you can’t help but think that Kvyat is only going to keep getting better and better. Perhaps his best traits are his confidence and determination – being able to go out and deliver, or, if he falls short, find the solution and improve so quickly, marks him out as a psychological warrior capable of matching the best in the business.
Kvyat has made 5 appearances in Q3 so far, 3 in the last 4 races. He’s almost even with his team-mate in the qualifying battle but tends to find himself a couple tenths down or just on the cusp of the top 10 more often than not. His races have been of a high quality, with 4 point-scoring finishes, including 3 in his first 4 races.
Of course, rookie errors do creep in – there has been the odd spin and he hasn’t always looked entirely polished in battle. And if you’re going to be super hard on him, then he’s probably been half a step behind Vergne in each area. But for a 19 year old rookie, that’s an enormous achievement and you can’t help but think he’ll be ahead of Vergne before the year is over.
7.5/10 – impressive and exceeding expectations – 2014’s best rookie, but still ever so slightly a diamond in the rough.
Race Finishing Positions
| AUS | MAL | BAH | CHN | ESP | MON | CAN | AUT | GBR | GER | HUN | |
| Jean-Eric Vergne | 8 | R | R | 12 | R | R | 8 | R | 10 | 13 | 9 |
| Daniil Kvyat | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 14 | R | R | R | 9 | R | 14 |
Performance Comparison
| Jean-Eric Vergne | Daniil Kvyat | |
| Qualified ahead | 6 | 5 |
| Average qualifying gap | -0.215s | +0.215s |
| Finished race ahead | 2 | 2 |
| Laps spent ahead | 222 | 193 |
What to expect for the rest of the season
With McLaren 80 points ahead in 6th, Toro Rosso’s main focus is now retaining 7th in the constructor’s championship and ensuring that Sauber and Lotus don’t produce late season resurgences that rob them of such vital prize money.
On the driver front, Vergne and Kvyat still have a lot to prove, especially given the fact that neither has definitively yet won the intra-team battle. No Toro Rosso driver has ever been given a fourth year, so Vergne will still feel the need to prove his ongoing value to the team (as the consitent and bankable point-scorer) to ensure he isn’t pushed aside by the next hot young thing (both Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen are lurking). Kvyat will theoretically get a second year, but Marko isn’t averse to firing young drivers where their potential is perceived to be going unfulfilled (ask Jaime Alguersuari).
So, watch this space for the usual Red Bull induced high pressure fireworks to conclude 2014.
