Jean-Eric Vergne says Daniel Ricciardo fight not all-consuming
Jean-Eric Vergne insists Toro Rosso's intra-team battle is not his primary focus and that he will not be satisfied simply by beating stablemate Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said both men have a genuine shot at a future Red Bull seat provided they impress over the 2013 Formula 1 campaign.
While Vergne has scored the team's only point so far, finishing 10th at Sepang, he insists beating Ricciardo is far from an all-consuming objective.
"People want to make out that there is a big fight," he said. "I don't care. I'm here to do my job and get the best result for the team.
"If I can be the driver that picks up the best result then I definitely want to be this driver and I will do everything for this.
"If we have the worst car though and always finish 17th or 18th every weekend I will not be happy at all.
"[In Australia] I was in front of Daniel after qualifying, but I was really pissed off and sad that I didn't make it through into Q3.
"The [intra-team] fight isn't enough for me; I want better performances."
Vergne added that he is confident the team can challenge for points on a more regular basis as the season progresses.
Toro Rosso set a target of finishing sixth in the constructors' championship when it launched the STR8 in February.
"The pace and performance of the car is good," he said.
"There are a few things we need to improve inside the team and on the car and hopefully we can improve this really quickly.
"[In Australia] I got the second fastest lap, I was much quicker than the guys in front. That was a positive - the car was looking pretty good."
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About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Daniel Ricciardo , Jean-Eric Vergne |
| Author | Edd Straw |
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