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Jean-Éric Vergne (VERN; born 25 April 1990 in Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, Île-de-France, France) is a French Formula One driver. He is currently a test driver for Ferrari. He drives the number 25 car.

He made his début for Toro Rosso in 2012. His highest position finish was 6th in the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix, breaking his highest finish record from Monaco. He left the team in 2015 as the team take on two new drivers.

Pre-Formula One

Karting

Vergne began karting aged four at his dad's kart circuit, which is located near Paris. He entered his first karting competition in 2000 and was a French Champion in 2001 in the minimes (children's) category. In 2004, he finished as runner-up in the French Rotax Max Championship, and a year later was runner-up in the Intercontinental A (ICA) class of the European Championship (the champion in the class being James Calado). In 2006, he came seventh in the premier KF1 World Championship.

Formula Renault 1.6

Formula Renault 2.0

2008

2009

British Formula Three

GP3 Series

Formula Renault 3.5

2010

2011

Formula One Career

Red Bull and Toro Rosso test driver

In 2011, Vergne was a test driver for both Red Bull-Renault and Toro Rosso-Ferrari. He took part in three practice sessions for the latter team, replacing Jaime Alguersuari at the Indian Grand Prix and Sébastien Buemi at the final two races of the season in Abu Dhabi and Brazil. He completed the 13th-fastest time in India, the 11th-best time Abu Dhabi (only a quarter of a second slower than Alguersuari) and the 18th-best time in Brazil.

At the 2011 Young Driver Test, Vergne was chosen to drive all three days for Red Bull. Vergne distinguished himself by setting the fastest time on all three days, well ahead of the rest of the field on all three days.

Scuderia Toro Rosso

2012

It was announced on 14 December 2011 that Vergne was to drive for Scuderia Toro Rosso, along with his new teammate, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, for the 2012 season. The pair replaced Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.

In his first race, the Australian GP, Vergne was running eleventh before the last lap. Despite Pastor Maldonado crashing, and Nico Rosberg slowing, Vergne was unable to score his first point after a race to the line involving Vergne, teammate Ricciardo, Sergio Pérez and Paul di Resta went badly for him, and he was passed by both Ricciardo and di Resta; and with Pérez was already ahead, Vergne finished eleventh.

In the next race, the Malaysian GP, Vergne managed to score his first points, four for 8th place in a crazy race.

In Monaco, Vergne pitted early, and managed to bring himself up to seventh. But with rain threatening, Vergne changed to intermediate tyres. As a result, he fell to eleventh, and then, with the rain not persisting, Vergne started losing a lot of time, which at its best was three seconds off the pace. He was overtaken by Pérez and finished twelfth. This could have been worse, had Heikki Kovalainen and Jenson Button not collided, which forced Kovalainen to pit and Button to retire. It was likely that the pair would have overtaken him.

At the European Grand Prix, Vergne collided with Kovalainen, giving them both punctures. Vergne had to retire as a result of the collision. He was then handed a ten-place grid penalty for the next race at Silverstone, and a €25,000 fine for driving dangerously with a puncture.

The Belgian Grand Prix, Vergne (and Ricciardo) were able to take advantage of the chaos that Romain Grosjean caused at the start. Vergne finished eighth and Ricciardo came in a few seconds behind in ninth.

Then, at the Italian Grand Prix, Vergne suffered a freak accident on lap nine, as his suspension broke during braking for the first chicane. Completely unable to control the car, he crashed out. Then at the next race in Singapore, Vergne was hit by Michael Schumacher after the first safety car period. The German had locked up all four of his wheels and Vergne was the unfortuanate driver in his path.

Vergne had a strong race in Korea, along with Ricciardo. With a car set up for the race, Vergne quailified poorly but was able to make up places while working effectively in tandem behind his teammate. Ricciardo was having issues toward the final few laps of the race, and Vergne overtook his teammate for eighth place.

In the final race in Brazil, Vergne was able to take advantage of the crazy race to finish in a strong eighth place. He finished 17th in the Championship, beating teammate Ricciardo by six points.

2013

Toro Rosso STR8

Vergne testing the STR8

Vergne was retained by Toro Rosso for 2013, alongside 2012 teammate Daniel Ricciardo. After performing better in 2012, Vergne was given no. 1 status in terms of car numbers within the team.

He started the season well in Australia. After a promising qualifying turned sour, Vergne managed to bring himself into the point-scoring positions before being overtaken in the last few laps. In the next race in Malaysia, Vergne overcame and poor grid position and poor start to score a single point for tenth, fighting off Valtteri Bottas for the position.

At the Chinese Grand Prix, Vergne suffered from a poor start which he never recovered from. In the fourth race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, Vergne was caught up in a collision at the start with Adrian Sutil and Giedo van der Garde. The Frenchman was forced to retire after damage caused by the puncture obtained in the collision.

In the Spanish Grand Prix, Vergne was involved in a collision with Nico Hülkenberg in the pit lane, the damage from which he was forced to eventually retire from. As for the Monaco Grand Prix, Vergne got into Q3, and qualified tenth. He spent the majority of the race there, and after Kimi Räikkönen was forced to pit and Sergio Pérez retired, Vergne finished eighth.

Canada was even better. In the changing conditions, Vergne qualified a career best seventh, and proceeded to spend nearly the entirety of his race in sixth place, where he finished, for his highest ever finish. The British Grand Prix, sadly, would end this run of form. Starting twelfth, Vergne spectacularly had his left-rear tyre blowout on the Hangar Straight while being chased by both Lotuses. For the third race this season, Vergne eventually retired due to damage to his car which was of no fault of his own.

As the calendar went to Germany, so did Vergne's bad luck. After qualifying an unimpressive 16th (ten places down on teammate Ricciardo), Vergne retired at around one-third distance with hydraulics failure.

At the Young Driver Test, Vergne drove half a day for Toro Rosso as a tyre tester for Pirelli on the final day, setting the seventh-best time of the day. This time, however, was substantially slower than the times set by Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz, Jr. the previous day.

Vergne's Hungarian Grand Prix was largely uneventful, however, for the next race, in Belgium, Vergne, like teammate Ricciardo, failed to get out of the first qualifying session. Vergne went on to finish twelfth.

A week before the Italian Grand Prix, it was announced that Ricciardo had been promoted to the second Red Bull seat after Mark Webber's retirement. Vergne was not considered for the role.

For the actual Italian race, Vergne's luck did not improve, as he suffered transmission failure 15 laps into the race while the Frenchman was running ninth.

For the Singapore Grand Prix, Vergne had an average race, being unable to profit from the safety car caused by teammate Ricciardo. The next race resulted in a late retirement with brake issues. The race after that, the Japanese Grand Prix, was largely uneventful, and Vergne finished twelfth.

On 21 October, it was announced that Vergne was to continue driving at Toro Rosso for the third consecutive season, alongside new teammate Daniil Kvyat.

In India, Vergne was one of three drivers to pit on the first lap of the first lap of the race, and he lead an uneventful race to finish thirteenth. Vergne's Abu Dhabi race was more eventful. Attempting a one-stop strategy, Vergne pitted late on lap 17. With 15 laps remaining, all was well, as Vergne was in seventh, however, his tyres couldn't hold out, falling down the order, and unintentionally forcing Fernando Alonso off track when the Spaniard entered the track following his pit stop. Eventually, having fallen to 14th, Toro Rosso pitted him, and Vergne crossed the line 17th.

At the United States Grand Prix, the highlight of Vergne's race was a collision with Esteban Gutiérrez, which earned the Frenchman a twenty-second penalty and pushed him down from 12th to 16th. At the final race of the season, in Brazil, Vergne qualifying eighth in the difficult conditions, but endured a disappointing race to finish 15th.

Vergne's final championship position was 15th, seven points down on Ricciardo.

2014

Vergne took part in the 2013 Pirelli Tyre Test, alongside new teammate Daniil Kvyat. In testing, both Toro Rosso and new engine supplier Renault struggled to adapt to the new regulations.

At the first race, many of these issues were resolved, and Vergne qualified impressively in sixth. His race was not as successful, but he managed to complete the distance in ninth place.

In the summer break, it was confirmed that Vergne was to lose his seat to Max Verstappen, and on 26 November Vergne left the team. He joined the Andretti Autosport Formula E team for the 2014 Punta del Este ePrix, taking Pole Position on début and almost winning, but for a last-lap suspension failure while leading.

Ferrari test driver

On 19 December 2014, it was confirmed that Vergne will be a test driver for the Ferrari team alongside Esteban Gutiérrez.

Formula One Statistical Overview

F1 Career Record

Year Entrant Team WDC Pts WDC Pos. Report
2011 Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso-Ferrari Test Driver
2012 Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16 17th Report
2013 Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13 15th Report
2014 Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso-Renault 22 13th Report
2015 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Test Driver
2016 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Test Driver

Statistics

Correct as of the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Template:Statbox

Career Results

Complete Formula One Results
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos

Template:2011 Results/20 Template:2012 Results/20 Template:2013 Results/20 Template:2014 Results/20

Key
Symbol Meaning Symbol Meaning
1st Winner Ret Retired
2nd Podium finish DSQ Disqualified
3rd DNQ Did not qualify
5th Points finish DNPQ Did not pre-qualify
14th Non-points finish TD Test driver
Italics Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap DNS Did not start
18th Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) NC Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4thP Qualified for pole position [+] More Symbols

Notes

V T E Teams and Drivers
2011 Teams and Drivers
Teams Red Bull • McLaren • Ferrari • Mercedes • Renault • Williams • Force India • Sauber • Toro Rosso • Lotus • HRT • Virgin
Engines Renault • Mercedes • Ferrari • Cosworth
Race Drivers Vettel • 2 Webber • 3 Hamilton • 4 Button • 5 Alonso • 6 Massa • 7 Schumacher • 8 Rosberg • 9 Heidfeld • 9 Senna • 10 Petrov • 11 Barrichello • 12 Maldonado • 14 Sutil • 15 Di Resta • 16 Kobayashi • 17 Pérez • 17 De la Rosa • 18 Buemi • 19 Alguersuari • 20 Kovalainen • 21 Trulli • 21 Chandhok • 22 Karthikeyan • 22/23 Ricciardo • 23 Liuzzi • 24 Glock • 25 d'Ambrosio
Other Drivers Paffett • Fisichella • Bianchi • Gené • Davidson • Grosjean • Fauzy • Tung • Charouz • Bottas • Hülkenberg • Gutiérrez • Vergne • Razia • Valsecchi • Teixeira • Yamamoto • Wickens • Quaife-Hobbs
2012 Teams and Drivers
Teams Red Bull • McLaren • Ferrari • Mercedes • Lotus • Force India • Sauber • Toro Rosso • Williams • Caterham • HRT • Marussia
Engines Renault • Ferrari • Mercedes • Cosworth
Race Drivers Vettel • 2 Webber • 3 Button • 4 Hamilton • 5 Alonso • 6 Massa • 7 Schumacher • 8 Rosberg • 9 Räikkönen • 10 Grosjean • d'Ambrosio • 11 di Resta • 12 Hülkenberg • 14 Kobayashi • 15 Pérez • 16 Ricciardo • 17 Vergne • 18 Maldonado • 19 Senna • 20 Kovalainen • 21 Petrov • 22 de la Rosa • 23 Karthikeyan • 24 Glock • Pic
Other Drivers Buemi • Paffett • Turvey • Gené • Rigon • Fisichella • Bird • Hartley • Korjus • Bianchi • Daly • Guttiérrez • Bottas • Wolff • van der Garde • Rossi • González • Clos • Ma • Liuzzi • Chilton • de Villota
2013 Teams and Drivers
Teams Red Bull • Ferrari • McLaren • Lotus • Mercedes • Sauber • Force India • Williams • Toro Rosso • Caterham • Marussia
Engines Renault • Ferrari • Mercedes • Cosworth
Race Drivers Vettel • 2 Webber • 3 Alonso • 4 Massa • 5 Button • 6 Pérez • 7 Räikkönen • 7 Kovalainen • 8 Grosjean • 9 Rosberg • 10 Hamilton • 11 Hülkenberg • 12 Gutiérrez • 14 Di Resta • 15 Sutil • 16 Maldonado • 17 Bottas • 18 Vergne • 19 Ricciardo • 20 Pic • 21 Van der Garde • 22 Bianchi • 23 Chilton
Other Drivers Buemi • Félix da Costa • Sainz Jr. • Gené • De la Rosa • Rigon • Paffett • Turvey • Magnussen • d'Ambrosio • Prost • Valsecchi • Hartley • Bird • Frijns • Sato • Sirotkin • Rossiter • Calado • Wolff • Juncadella • Kyvat • Rossi • Ma • Stevens • Razia • González • Ellinas
2014 Teams and Drivers
Teams Caterham • Ferrari • Force India • Lotus • Marussia • McLaren • Mercedes • Red Bull • Sauber • Toro Rosso • Williams
Engines Ferrari • Mercedes • Renault
Drivers Vettel • 3 Ricciardo • 4 Chilton • 6 Rosberg • 7 Räikkönen • 8 Grosjean • 9 Ericsson • 10 Kobayashi • 11 Pérez • 13 Maldonado • 14 Alonso • 17 Bianchi • 19 Massa • 20 Magnussen • 21 Gutiérrez • 22 Button • 25 Vergne • 26 Kvyat • 27 Hülkenberg • 42 Rossi • 44 Hamilton • 45 Lotterer • 46 Stevens • 77 Bottas • 99 Sutil
Other Drivers Buemi • De la Rosa • Félix da Costa • Frijns • Gené • Juncadella • Paffett • Rigon • Sirotkin • Sørensen • Turvey • Van der Garde • Vandoorne • Wolff
2015 Teams and Drivers
Teams Ferrari • Force India • Lotus • Marussia • McLaren • Mercedes • Red Bull • Sauber • Toro Rosso • Williams
Engines Ferrari • Honda • Mercedes • Renault
Drivers Ricciardo • 5 Vettel • 6 Rosberg • 7 Räikkönen • 8 Grosjean • 9 Ericsson • 11 Pérez • 12 Nasr • 13 Maldonado • 14 Alonso • 19 Massa • 20 Magnussen • 21 Gutiérrez • 22 Button • 26 Kvyat • 27 Hülkenberg • 28 Stevens • 33 Verstappen • 44 Hamilton • 53 Rossi • 55 Sainz • 77 Bottas • 98 Merhi
Other Drivers Buemi • Celis • Daruvala • De la Rosa • Félix da Costa • Fong • Gasly • Gutiérrez • Jordá • King • Leimer • Lynn • Marciello • Palmer • Pic • Prost • Rigon • Sutil • Turvey • Vandoorne • Vergne • Wehrlein • Wolff
2016 Teams and Drivers
Teams Ferrari • Force India • Haas • Manor • McLaren • Mercedes • Red Bull • Renault • Sauber • Toro Rosso • Williams
Engines Ferrari • Honda • Mercedes • Renault • TAG Heuer
Drivers Ricciardo • 5 Vettel • 6 Rosberg • 7 Räikkönen • 8 Grosjean • 9 Ericsson • 11 Pérez • 12 Nasr • 14 Alonso • 19 Massa • 20 Magnussen • 21 Gutiérrez • 22 Button • 26 Kvyat • 27 Hülkenberg • 30 Palmer • 31 Ocon • 33 Verstappen • 44 Hamilton • 47 Vandoorne • 55 Sainz • 77 Bottas • 88 Haryanto • 94 Wehrlein
Other Drivers Celis • di Resta • Fong • Fuoco • Gasly • Jordá • Kari • King • Leclerc • Lynn • Matsushita • Mazepin • Paffett • Rossi • Stroll • Turvey • Vandoorne • Vergne


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