Who will Red Bull sit in the Toro Rossa race car?

The fact that Sebastian Vettel is leaving the Red Bull Racing team after winning four world titles is old news, as well as the fact that a young Russian, Daniil Kvyat, who is racing for Toro Rosso, the second team of Austria, will be sitting in his car next season. manufacturer of energy drinks.

In one of the Toro Rossos will sit the youngest Formula One racer in history, Max Verstappen, and in front of the leading men of Red Bull is now the question of who to choose as the second racer. Of course, Austrians want someone from the list of racers in their program of young racers the most, Carlos Sainz Jr., Jean-Eric Vergna, Alex Lynn, Pierre Gaslya ali Antonia Felix da Costo, perhaps, although the options are virtually nil, they will opt for someone else.

Somehow it would make the most sense to keep the 24-year-old in Toro Rosso with a complete newcomer Jean-Eric Vergna, who is with the team for the third season in a row this year. In addition to experience, both in racing and team work, the fact that in the 2012 season, when he made his debut with Toro Rosso, he managed to beat his more experienced teammate Daniel Ricciard speaks in his favor. Nevertheless, the latter advanced to Red Bull Racing and, with excellent performances compared to Sebastian Vettl, secured high marks in the eyes of Red Bull bosses this year.

With the announcement that an even less experienced Kwiat will advance from Toro Rosso to Red Bull next season, Vergen's talent seemed once again overlooked, as the Frenchman scored 21 points, or almost three times as many as Kwiat, despite an unreliable race car. , which he wrote in the table next to his name only 8.

The statement by Toro Ross boss Franz Tost that Vergne is the best racer to ever wear their racing suit and remain without a seat at Red Bull suggests that the Frenchman may still be offered the opportunity to stay with Toro Ross next season. to Kvjat’s disappointment to advance to the long-awaited Red Bull A-team racing seat.

But on the other hand, the fact that Vergne did not convince the leaders at Red Bull in three years, despite solid results, also tells its story.

The question arises as to whether he may not be the first favorite for the seat and his debut in Formula One Spaniard Carlos Sainz.

The son of the two-time world rally champion is currently the hottest “edge” of Red Bull’s young racers program. At the age of 20, he became the first racer from the program to become a Formula Renault 3.5 champion, where he also set a record of seven wins in seventeen races of the season. That sounds very good, but his performances on the track weren’t that convincing. Saniz was sitting in the empty seat of the DAMS team, left behind by former champion Kevin Magnussen, who is now racing for McLaren. The Spaniard was not too convincing with his ride and left behind a hint that on the way to the title he only took advantage of what the great race car had to offer.

A good example is the last race of the season in Jerez, where the teams competed for the first time. Sainz did not score a single point in either of the two races, and he was also unconvincing in the GP3 series, where he competed before Formula Renault 3.5. There, under the watchful eye of Formula One team bosses, he won no more than just two podium finishes. However, hand on heart, he drove a few races this year where he was good enough not to give up the title Pierre Gaslyu, another racer from the Red Bull talent program who is also vying for a seat at Toro Rosso.

Gasly, for example, recorded more rankings on the winners' podium this year compared to Sainz, except that the Spaniard stood at the top seven times, where the otherwise constant 18-year-old Frenchman failed to step even once. The consistency we haven’t seen at Sainz could possibly bring him the chance to advance to Formula One, although he’s more likely to race in the GP2 series next season with Red Bull support.

He is definitely one of the candidates as well Alex lynn, who has this year's title of GP3 series champion almost behind his belt, as the GP3 caravan is waiting for the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, and the Briton has a 47-point advantage over the pursuers.

He could also get to the Toro Ross seat Antonio Felix daCosta, although the chances of that are pretty slim, given that his star in the Red Bull young racers ’program shone in 2012 and then somehow quieted down in the 2013 season when in Formula Renault 3.5, despite a sensational run of four wins in the last five races season 2012, failed to win the expected title. Now a race in the DTM series, which is more than not the last station of promising Formula One racers and not a springboard from which to enter a higher category (with a few exceptions, of course).

Many other racers do not have a choice, as the leading racers of lower categories are in one way or another connected with other F1 teams. For example, Felipe Nasr is supported by Williams, Stoffel Vandoorne is waiting for a seat at McLarn, Esteban Ocon (Lotus) or Ferrari's Antonio Fuoco.

Photos: Red Bull Racing