Vergne approached over F1 race seat for 2019

Jean-Eric Vergne has been subject to an approach from a Formula 1 team regarding a race seat for the 2019 season.

Vergne, 28, raced in F1 between 2012 and 2014 with Toro Rosso before being dropped from the Red Bull programme, prompting the Frenchman to move into Formula E.

Vergne clinched his first Formula E drivers’ championship last month with one round to spare following four race wins for Techeetah through the 2017/18 campaign, as well as scoring a record number of points for a single season.

Following a successful year so far that has also included a provisional LMP2 class victory at Le Mans, Vergne confirmed he had been subject to a number of approaches from teams, before revealing that “even a Formula 1 team” had contacted him over a race drive for 2019.

“It’s a possibility. It’s funny how the world of motorsport changes,” Vergne told Crash.net at Silverstone.

“When you change your state of mind, when you change a little bit how you work, you see the results straight away. You see it in the results, and you see it in how people look at you and how they speak to you. When you start representing a brand what you are, it changes a lot of things.

“Three years ago, I don’t think anybody would have called me from F1 and said: ‘Hey, do you have a contract for next season?’ So it’s great.”

While Vergne would not be drawn on which team had approached him, he was hopeful of the sport changing in the future to allow for a more level playing field similar to the one experienced in Formula E.

“Because it is like this, maybe Formula 1 wants to change that a little bit,” Vergne said.

“That’s the good thing about Formula E. With our team, it’s like if Marussia would have won in Formula 1. It would be impossible in F1. But maybe that can change. Maybe some teams can raise their games and start fighting for wins again.

“It’s something that would interest me, to have another new, big challenge. This time, I think I have all the tools at my disposal to do a good job in F1.”

'IF A GOOD OPPORTUNITY COMES, I WOULD CONSIDER IT'

Vergne rose through Red Bull’s motorsport programme alongside Daniel Ricciardo, with the pair racing together at Toro Rosso in 2012 and 2013.

While Ricciardo went on to join Red Bull’s senior F1 team and become a multiple-race winner, Vergne slipped out of F1 at the end of 2014 as Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen displaced him at Toro Rosso.

Vergne stressed he felt no bitterness over his F1 departure and Ricciardo’s subsequent success, instead feeling stronger for his experiences in the series.

“In my mind, I’m happy where I am,” Vergne said. “I’m not bitter. I see my ex-teammate, Daniel, winning races. I was in Monaco and I was so happy for him when he won.

“I could be bitter, saying: ‘I was beating this guy, I was close to him, and now he’s winning and he’s got this contract and this future.’

“I’m not bitter at all. I’m very happy with what I have. I think things happen for a reason. Who knows where he’s going to be in 10 years and where I’m going to be in 10 years?

“So no, I’m not disappointed any more. I learned from my mistakes, I learned from the bad things that happened, and I’m actually thankful for what happened to me.

“But now, if a good opportunity comes in Formula 1, I would consider it.”