Jean-Eric Vergne says Toro Rosso are “pretty keen on me staying” for 2015

Jean-Eric Vernge says the whole of Toro Rosso are “pretty keen on me staying” as he edges closer to remaining on the F1 grid in 2015.

In August it was announced that the Frenchman would be dropped at the end of the season to make way for the latest Red Bull protégé Max Verstappen.

However, Sebastian Vettel’s bombshell ahead of the Japanese GP that he will leave Red Bull following the 2014 finale in Abu Dhabi opened up a vacancy at Toro Rosso as Daniil Kvyat was promoted to the senior team.

With Verstappen just 17-years-old and set to become the youngest driver in F1 history next year, the consensus of opinion is the Italian team would be better served pairing him with an experienced F1 driver rather than Carlos Sainz Jr. or Alex Lynn.

“I think the chances are definitely higher than one month ago to remain with Toro Rosso,” Vergne told Sky Sports F1 when asked about his 2015 plans.

“The whole team I think is pretty keen on me staying, I think we have done a great job together. This year, we should have had a lot more points so I think we all want to keep going next year and move forwards from everything that we have learnt this year and go and score a lot more points.

“I am sure the car next year will be really competitive and that we can fight for really good positions.“

Vernge has contested 56 races since making his debut at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix, scoring 51 points with a best result of sixth.