New Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne has said that he does not have a problem with the pressure that comes from driving for the competitive Red Bull junior team in Formula One, saying that the stresses will 'drive him forward'.
Vergne will make his Formula One debut for the Italian team in 2012, alongside fellow new signing and Red Bull development driver Daniel Ricciardo.
The pair replace Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari for the coming season, after the Red Bull company chose to replace both of the drivers in what was seen as a somewhat ruthless piece of driver management.
But despite the pressure to perform that comes from being part of the caffeinated company's seemingly endless supply of young talent, Vergne says that he is sure he will thrive in such conditions.
"At the end of the day the driver must make the difference and bring the car home - and in a team with so many people there is obviously a bit of pressure there," he smiled after the team launched their new STR7 car, "I like that though – it is what drives me forward.
"Being team-mate to Daniel will also help move me and the team [move] forward. I know him very well and he's a really good driver, so it's a great benchmark for me to have - although I am also working to be better than him."
He added though that he was aware that he had to prove himself to the Red Bull-affiliated team in 2012.
"I need to prove them right," he muttered, "I have a lot to learn, and I need to gain as much experience as possible, particularly from testing. It's going to be tough but I'm really looking forward to it.
"It would be nice to finish as many times as possible in the points, but first we have to see how our car compares to others. The team did an incredible job last year though and I hope this year we can do even better."
Meanwhile, Ricciardo admitted that his own aim would be to assume a position as the "dominant" driver in the team for the coming season, with the Australian already having half a season's experience in the sport with HRT.
"The team hasn't set out a leader or anything but obviously if I can be the dominant driver I think that's everyone's little aim," Web 2.0 told reporters.
As for the season in general, he added: "We have gone a step forward, and this is definitely a pretty obvious and big step hopefully towards the big one.
"Everyone I'm sure has faith in their own team but I've definitely got it with mine. Seeing the work they have done over the winter, I've been in Faenza a few times in January and I know they are very happy with the final product. So now we'll see what it does on track."
He added: "We'll see tomorrow once testing gets underway and we know what we have got underneath us.
"I know they have just tried to go better than what they had already last year, so if it's an improvement on that then points are realistic."
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