There's been much talk of a deadly rivalry brewing between Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne as they compete for the coveted 2nd Red Bull seat, which ruthless Red Bull svengali Doktor Helmut Marko has proclaimed will become available for next year when he plans to discard loyal, longtime number 2, Mark Webber. There's been fighting talk from Ricciardo, whose stated aim is to "blow Vergne apart". Vergne on the other hand states simply "we are not friends". Former WDC, Jacques Villeneuve, firmly in the Frenchman's camp says: "Vergne needs to show that he is able to stand out; to be like Alonso or Vettel. Being a Webber is not enough." Last year's performances by the two drivers suggest the less experienced Vergne has a slight edge, 16 points to Ricciardo's 10, but this is hardly conclusive. What do you think? Will either driver "blow the other apart" or will they remain fairly evenly matched? Or is this whole story just a storm in a teacup invented by someone stupid with nothing better to do?
This. Ricciardo never said he was going to blow Vergne away, merely that he wanted to. I think people have taken that too far. He does get interviewed a lot I've noticed (especially by AUTOSPORT) compared to Vergne, so I think a lot of people percieve that as being cocky, which it isn't.
I don't think Daniel's cocky but he has a confident, typically Aussie, positive manner, always smiling etc. This is very media-friendly. Vergne has less to say and doesn't come across as well; language may well play a big part in this. Maybe I should check out some French media, see if Vergne's more forthcoming there. Oh, and I did say it was Daniel's "stated aim", not that he would "blow Vergne apart".
I don't see either of them getting the upper hand on each other this year... I still believe they should have kept Jamie Alguersuari, he was showing promise towards the middle/end of 2011 and was still very young!
Helmut, a plumb of the highest order! If Helmut had his way, he'd have axed Webber too, but doesn't Webber get along with the owner, Dietrich Mateschitz? which, apart from being a damn decent driver is helping him retain his seat?
Oh, no I didn't mean you Max, but you'd be surprised how many others actually do percieve Daniel this way. I definitely think you're right about the language barrier for Vergne.
He's still doing his best to oust Webber: “Mark Webber will stay with us for another year, and then he will decide what to do in his career. Red Bull will decide who takes his place, although it is likely it will be Ricciardo”. Vergne criticised the team last year, big mistake.
Helmut's the one who should go. It seems clear that he puts personal animosity ahead of what's best for the success of either team.
I prefer Ricciardo out of the two of them. He seems to come across well (possibly because he's literally always smiling) and I've been impressed by his driving on several occasions now.
I prefer Vergne, while his qualifying pace is inferior he tends to come through in the races extremely well. I concur they should have stuck with Alguersuari. Definitely don't understand why they keep Buemi around.
Helmut Marko seems to deliberately court controversy with his numerous out-spoken comments. He applies an unnatural, seemingly vindictive, additional pressure upon anyone but the chosen (mostly by him) one. I say this regardless of Vettel's undoubted and considerable talent. But the result is that only one person gets an easy ride with him â and he chooses to anoint as if by decree â inasmuch as his chosen one is protected like his own flesh and blood as if it somehow reflects upon himself: hence a protegé, to be favoured against any and all who might threaten⦠Since I like fairness first and foremost, Marko â who demonstrates scant regard for such niceties â is not what I might call a 'best mate'â¦
He is certainly the more obviously likeable. As for driving talent, I find it hard to say who's better and I don't think this is helped by the car or the team. It seems to me that the whole team is compromised by the fact that its function is not that of other teams. As it exists solely to find new talent to feed into the senior Red Bull team, it cannot function or develop as a team in and of itself. Looking back at 2011, despite Buemi's chronic bad luck, the team was coalescing and both car and drivers were improving considerably. But whereas any other team would have used this as a foundation to build on, Marko stepped in and broke up the party, meaning that all the good work was lost and it was back to square one for no other reason than that Marko had decreed neither driver fit to walk in Vettel's shadow. This in turn puts the next crop of candidate drivers at a disadvantage before they have even begun and so a pattern develops. Just because Marko's method discovered Vettel, it doesn't mean that this regime will discover others in the same way; indeed, I think it more likely that Vettel was discovered despite Marko's system and not because of it.
