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[sagi58]

Benvenuto!!

, Staff wrote:">Ex-Toro Rosso F1 driver Vergne joins Ferrari as test driver

Jean-Eric Vergne will join Ferrari's Formula 1 test roster for 2015, with the ex-Toro Rosso racer focusing on simulator work for the Italian team.

The 24-year-old Frenchman lost his Toro Rosso race seat at the end of 2014 after three seasons, as the team opted for an all-rookie line-up of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen for next year. Vergne joins ex-Sauber F1 racer Esteban Gutierrez on Ferrari's revised test list, alongside incumbents Marc Gene and Davide Rigon. Ferrari has parted company with Pedro de la Rosa, who had been one of its development drivers for the past two years.

Ferrari's new team boss Maurizio Arrivabene said he expects Vergne to "make an important contribution" at Maranello.

"He will fit into a program aimed at improving important areas, invigorating and strengthening an already strong and capable group of professionals," said Arrivabene.

Vergne believes his experience from both racing with Toro Rosso and being part of the Red Bull simulator program while on its junior team beforehand will help Ferrari.

"I feel very honored to be joining the Ferrari family and becoming a part of the most prestigious team in the history of Formula 1," he said. "The objective is a unanimous one and that is to help the Scuderia get back to the top step of the podium.

"Having had two years working in the simulator for a top F1 team and three years racing with Toro Rosso, my experience will add to the great efforts that are currently being made in order to get the team back to its winning ways."

Since parting with Toro Rosso, Vergne has already returned to racing in Formula E, where he took pole and led on his series debut with Andretti Autosport in Punta del Este last weekend.

[LiamCatterson]

Replace Kimi!!!! JEV is amazing...

[sagi58]

Uh... NO!!! Do NOT replace Kimi... yet!!

[sagi58]

, Staff wrote:">Jean-Eric Vergne’s first day in the simulator

Maranello, 13 January – Jean-Eric Vergne has now started work at Ferrari. The 24 year old Frenchman spent the day at the Maranello facility, meeting engineers and management, as well as getting to grips with his new “office,” the F1 simulator.

“The first day as a Ferrari man is really something special,” saidVergne. “But already last night, I took a short trip around Maranello and I realised that this is a city that lives and breathes Ferrari. This year, I will be doing a lot of work in the simulator and this first introduction to it was very useful. I know Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen well and I can’t wait to work with them.”

[sagi58]

 wrote:">Vergne sets sights on Raikkonen seat

Jean-Eric Vergne has admitted he has set his sights on Kimi Raikkonen's 2016 race seat at Ferrari. The Frenchman, developed and groomed by Red Bull, was dropped by the energy drink company's second team Toro Rosso at the end of last year. He has rescued his F1 career with a test driver role at the sport's grandee team Ferrari, although the top reserve seat was already filled by the heavily Mexican-backed Esteban Gutierrez.

"Honestly," Vergne told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport, "I prefer having the job of working on the simulator and doing something useful, rather than being the reserve. "Today, the role of a third driver is to be at the track without doing anything special. Not being able to help to the team would be frustrating, so I feel that mine is an important task," he added.

Vergne insists he has "no disappointment" at having been dropped by Red Bull, as his new challenge at Ferrari awaits and he heads to Maranello this week to visit the factory for the first time. It is suggested Finn Raikkonen could vacate his Ferrari race seat at the end of this year.

"I know I gave my best and that's why I have no regrets," said Vergne, referring to his lost Toro Rosso seat. "And now I'm at Ferrari which is also a great opportunity for 2016. If I was not able to race this year, I think what I have is better than being at Caterham or Marussia and always being last."

He admits that the arrival at Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, the highest-profile Red Bull-groomed F1 star, may have helped him secure the job in red. "I've known him since I was working on the Red Bull simulator when I was in F3," said Vergne. "I've always had a great relationship with him, as I do as well with Kimi. Surely the fact that he (Vettel) went to Ferrari did help, but I also know that my name was mentioned by others -- I talked a lot with Massimo Rivola, for example," he added.