In recent years, I have learnt to live my life through the motto; "Everything Happens for a Reason." Unfortunately, I had to learn that through the hard way, but we won't go into that. This is a motorsport blog after all. But why am I relating that quote to motorsport, you ask. Well, in a simple term, I like to wonder to this very day what could have been if both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne had made into Red Bull's main team.
Most people would be happy to say Daniel Ricciardo was the stronger driver of the two when at Toro Rosso. Well, in fact, this is wrong. Ok, not totally wrong as they were very similarly matched, which is why I wonder what could've been.
Australian driver and 2009 British Formula 3 champion; Daniel Ricciardo joined the Italian Formula One team; Scuderia Toro Rosso, alongside Frenchman, Jean-Eric Vergne, who also happened to be a British Formula 3 champion (2010), at the beginning of the 2012 Formula One season. Both drivers had been apart of Red Bull's prestigious junior team for some time, racing against each other in the likes of British Formula 3 and Formula Renault 3.5, impressing a number of people along the way, leading to their eventual promotion to Formula One.
The 2012 season would best be described as a roller coaster for the Toro Rosso team and their drivers. Having a promising start by consistently scoring points and getting to the mid-season where it was fight to just score the one point. Upgrades added to the car after the summer break brought the team back up to where they wanted to be, consistently in the points. Eventually, Vergne out-scored Ricciardo at the end of the season finishing in P17 with 16 points, compared to Ricciardo's P18 and 10 points. The team itself finished in P9 in the constructors championship.
The following year, both drivers were retained at Toro Rosso. The start of the year was almost opposite to what they achieved the year before, no points and engine failures. Things got better though. At that years Canadian Grand Prix, both drivers managed to qualify in reasonable places in the top ten, making it Toro Rosso's best qualifying result since the Chinese Grand Prix in 2011. Going on into that race, Vergne managed to finish in 6th position, making it Toro Rosso's best finishing position since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix. The two boys were breaking team records. However, a cloud of bad luck arrived and hovered over the team for some time. And, after claiming the teams best qualifying positions for some time back at the Canadian Grand Prix, the team managed one of their worst qualifying sessions ever at the Belgian race. This came at a bad time too as a seat had opened up at the junior team's parent, Red Bull. During that race, things were looking good for Ricciardo, managing to come home with some points. For Vergne, it was a different story. And, days before the Italian Grand Prix, the moment came. Daniel Ricciardo was the guy chosen to go to Red Bull.
So, off Ricciardo went to Red Bull. Putting up a fight to his new team mate, 4 Time World Champion; Sebastian Vettel. Luckily for Vergne, Toro Rosso retained him for a third year, partnering him with younger Red Bull Junior and 2013 GP3 champion, Daniil Kvyat. However, this was his last chance to show his worth.
Several car failures hindered Vergne's performance throughout 2014 but the Frenchman lived up to the challenge that teammate Kvyat brought to him. Later that year, another seat became available at the main team and this was Jean-Eric Vergne's moment. So we thought. Kvyat got the seat. Leaving Vergne with nothing, as due to the talent, such as Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, coming through within the Red Bull Junior Team, Vergne would have to step aside the following year, watching his Formula One dream fade away.
It is no lie that the motorsport world is brutal. But what would have I done? The initial decision to move either Ricciardo or Vergne up to the parent team must have been difficult and I don't envy Red Bull for having to make it, as both drivers were very evenly matched. To this day, I don't know if it should have been Vergne or Ricciardo but it was the latter so that's who we'll go with. When the second seat came available in 2014, I would have definitely moved Vergne up. No competition. He had the experience and he had proven himself against Ricciardo before. Having these two boys at Red Bull would have been good for Formula One. The inter-team battle would be one to remember, as previous seasons have shown how close they are on track. They've also had worked with one another before. It was a promising line up that Red Bull let slip through their fingers.
So, where are they now? And why was Vergne's elimination from Formula One a good thing for the Frenchman?
Ricciardo, now a multiple race winner, is still loving life at Red Bull Racing, drinking champagne from a shoe and Vergne? Well, Jean-Eric Vergne is now a Formula E World Champion. Being the only driver in that series to win numerous races in a row. Things may seem bad at the time but everything turns out good in the end. I'd kill for a "Jevcardo" line up in Formula One again but it's not meant to be. So, I'll sit back and relax, watching them both kill it out on track in their respective categories.
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