It is too early to name a frontrunner for a seat at Red Bull’s premier team.
That is the claim of Franz Tost, the boss of the energy drink company’s junior team Toro Rosso.
Following the ousting of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi, the Faenza based outfit has two new Red Bull youngsters to groom in 2012.
Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne are therefore at the front of the queue to potentially replace Mark Webber at the senior team, even though Red Bull chiefs have appeared to indicate that Australian Webber is staying put for now.
So when asked by Austria’s Laola1 whether Ricciardo or Vergne are winning the race to Red Bull Racing so far, Tost insisted: "We have no thoughts about that.
"The important thing is that they continue to develop in every area."
So far, Frenchman Vergne has four points compared with Ricciardo’s two.
"Jean-Eric is willing to take more risks," Tost admitted, "while Daniel has a grasp of the car overall with his extra experience."