Former Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne has admitted being a part of the Red Bull programme wasn’t always advantageous to his career.
The Frenchman was dropped by the Austrian drinks company at the end of 2014 making way for Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen after being overlooked for a promotion to the main Red Bull team twice as Daniel Ricciardo replaced Mark Webber following his retirement, and Daniil Kvyat getting the nod when Sebastian Vettel moved to Ferrari.
Since leaving F1, Vergne has driven in Formula E with the Andretti team and now Techeetah as well as being a developmental driver for Ferrari.
The link with the famous Italian team doesn’t appear to offer a route back into F1, however, with other Ferrari-backed drivers offered seats at Haas or Sauber and now Antonio Giovinazzi hired as reserve driver.
The 26-year-old admits that while he has since sorted his career out, the Red Bull link, which helped him get to F1, was also responsible for his downfall.
“It’s quite funny because my biggest obstacle was Red Bull because I had no manager when I left F1,” he was quoted by F1i.com.
“It’s good when things are going well with Red Bull, but when they aren’t, you have nowhere to go, but I was lucky and managed to sort myself out in the end.
“Red Bull got me into F1, but they also stopped me being there in the end,” he concluded.
Indeed, Vergne was a highly respected driver by many in the paddock and some were unhappy particularly when Ricciardo got the nod over him to move to Red Bull for 2014.
Of course the Australian has since proven that to be the right decision, becoming one of the most complete drivers on the grid, and it is help from Red Bull in their junior careers that was vital to both Ricciardo and Vergne getting their breaks in motorsport.
“I chose not to go into Formula 2.0 and instead I did the French Formula Campus, which is now French FIA F4,” he explained. “I got help from the French motorsport federation (Fédération Française du Sport Automobile) to do it and I won the series.
“It was a good season with lots of wins, and that gave me the chance to do the Red Bull driver shootout, where 20 drivers were tested.
“I was the best driver along with Daniel Ricciardo, and from then on Red Bull always backed me, so I only ever had to find a few sponsors. I was really lucky with Red Bull because they managed my career and always put me in a good championship and in a good team.”
At a time when sponsorship funds are equal to if not more important than talent in some teams in F1, becoming part of a young driver programme is one of the best ways to fulfil your goals simply by proving your worth.
However, as the Red Bull system has proven to be, it is also one of the most cut-throat methods with drivers like Jaime Alguersuari, Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi, Vergne and arguably Kvyat now all examples of how quickly you can go from hero to zero.
It also works in other ways as Sainz, Ricciardo and Max Verstappen are all now finding out how being in favour with Dr Helmut Marko and Christian Horner can mean missing out on opportunities elsewhere.
Sainz, in particular, was wanted by several teams for 2017 but Red Bull rebuffed all approaches and none of the trio could consider themselves options for the vacant Mercedes seat neither as they are tied down to their current contracts.
Therefore, Vergne’s points are extremely valid and go wider than even he suggested. Ultimately it is all part of F1 but the situation’s of all four Red Bull drivers could be a very interesting story to follow next year.
