“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 One 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.” Ricciardo said he was
excited to have made the step up from HRT.
“To be honest, I am still jumping up and down with excitement at the news,”
he said. “In the second half of 2011 I learned a lot from the people I
worked with, racing in 11 Grands Prix and I want to thank them for the
opportunity they gave me.
“I have to say that joining Scuderia Toro Rosso was always my real goal,
so a big thank you to Red Bull for giving me this fantastic opportunity and
now I can’t wait to get to work once testing begins.”
Vergne becomes the third Frenchman confirmed for 2012 following Virgin’s
Charles Pic and Lotus’s Romain Grosjean. Force India, meanwhile, are
expected to confirm imminently, possibly as early as Thursday, that Briton
Paul di Resta is remaining with the team next season.
Team co-owner Vijay Mallya has missed several self-imposed deadlines to
announce his 2012 line-up but is due to fly in to the factory on Thursday,
although nothing formal has been planned as yet. There remain rumours about
his status at the Silverstone-based team with his Kingfisher Airlines
company facing large losses.
Di Resta has had a solid first year in Formula One, showing consistency,
maturity and speed as he pushed his more experienced team mate Adrian Sutil
hard in the drivers’ championship.
Sutil and reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg are believed to be battling over the
second Force India seat with Williams, who have one seat left, waiting to
see what happens.
Former Formula One driver and double Le Mans winner JJ Lehto has been sentenced
to two years and four months in jail for his involvement in a boating
accident which killed a friend last year. The Finn is appealing the
sentence.