Scuderia Toro Rosso Name All New Driver Line Up

Steven Pazin · Post by **Steven Pazin** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:34 pm

I must say I am shocked but Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne are in!

Scuderia Toro Rosso will have a completely new driver line-up for the 2012 Formula 1 season, made up of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne. It will be the first time since the team’s 2006 debut that it will begin the year with an all new line-up. Both drivers have come through the Red Bull Junior Driver programme and the decision to promote Daniel and Jean-Eric to Scuderia Toro Rosso was taken by the team in conjunction with Red Bull.

Franz Tost: “I am pleased that we have been able to reach an early decision on our drivers for next year, because it means we can all give our full attention to 2012, without any distractions. Over the past year, both Daniel and Jean-Eric have proved their worth and I expect them to make a significant contribution to the team’s performance next year. Daniel has the benefit of having actually raced in Grands Prix for much of this year, while Jean-Eric proved he could adapt quickly to the demands of driving a Formula 1 car. As they have both worked with the team and its engineers very recently, this should allow us to get up to speed right from the start of winter testing in a couple of months time. I must also thank Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari for all their hard work over the past three seasons. They have delivered some excellent performances which have helped the team move forward and develop. We wish them well for the future. However, one has to remember that when Scuderia Toro Rosso was established in 2005, it was done so with the intention of providing a first step into Formula 1 for the youngsters in the Red Bull Junior Driver programme. It is therefore part of the team’s culture to change its driver line-up from time to time in order to achieve this goal.”

Full release at Scuderia Toro Rosso website

jacfan · Post by **jacfan** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:57 pm

I think Daniel Ricciardo has earned his place. I don't know Jean-Eric Vergne but will be looking forward to seeing what he can do in the new year.

Ed · Post by Ed » Thu Dec 15, 2011 10:18 pm

Thank you Steven for posting this update

Indeed it is very surprising that Toro Rosso decided to replace both Buemi and Alguersuari particularly that in recent days both were confident of their chances.

Having said that, Toro Rosso have always been saying that their line up would be two of those four drivers. Ricciardo did well at HRT and Vergne impressed during the young driver test. It will be a good fight between those two especially that one of them could move to Red Bull in 2013.

There are only a few seats left for Alguersuari and Buemi to try and grab for 2012. A Williams seat is still available while the driver lineup at Force India has yet to be announced although it is almost certain that it will be two from Sutil, di Resta and Hulkenberg. There is also a seat available at HRT and while Caterham have confirmed their lineup, there is speculation that Trulli's seat may be in doubt

Check out the 2012 driver lineup page for the latest information

Thaddeus · Post by **Thaddeus** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:38 am

I was pretty surprised as well. I hope Buemi and Alguersuari got some advanced notice, because there are probably only 2 seats left now (1 each at Williams and HRT).

Steven Pazin · Post by **Steven Pazin** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:36 am

After reading earlier in the week that both Jaime and Seb were still booked to do sponsor events I, like many others, thought they were safe with Daniel and JE keeping their currents roles for more development.
I do not know how this pans out for 2013, as I doubt both the drivers could develop sufficently to step up to RBR in just one year.
I feel sorry for both the ex-drivers, not enough time to look for other F1 drives and I wonder if Red Bull will offer them spots in other forms of racing.