Jean-Eric Vergne believes he still has a chance to take up the vacant Red Bull seat next season despite team principal Christian Horner essentially ruling out the Frenchman.
Whilst Vergne has more points and says bad luck is to blame for recent results, Red Bull chose to put team-mate Daniel Ricciardo behind the wheel of the RB9 at the Silverstone test.
Despite this and Horner’s comments, the 23-year-old believes he still has a shot at replacing Mark Webber.
“I still believe in my chances,” Vergne told Autosport during a Red Bull demonstration at the World Series by Renault event at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday.
“There is of course a chance. I would love to drive for Red Bull,” he added. “But so far it makes no sense for me to think about it. It won’t help me.”
Should the seat come down to a two-horse race between Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen – which many believe it will – then Vergne is backing the Australian.
“If they have made their mind up that it should be between Daniel and Raikkonen, I would definitely prefer Daniel to go there,” he said.
“That is quite good for me because I can beat him. I did it this year when I didn’t have problems.
“Then I just have to show the right people that it was not a one-off.”
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