Unsurprisingly, the big focus of the Thursday press conference for the Spanish Grand Prix was the seat swap between Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen. The majority of the press questions were related to the seat swap, as members of the press attempted to drill down further into the situation at Red Bull.
The FIA press conference consisted of Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen, Carlos Sainz, Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen. Although everyone was asked questions, Kvyat and Verstappen were the busiest, being pelted with questions about the seat swap that has occurred. Of course, the answers which were provided were very vague, as they usually are in order to protect the image of the team.
Sainz was able to reflect on his teammate swap. He was sure to state that he doesn’t usually analyze the team personnel changes, as it is not his job to move team members around. However, he did express his confidence in his team, saying: “I fully trust on what Toro Rosso and Red Bull have decided to do and I think it’s for the best of the team, for the best of the engineers, the personnel in there and already you can see some refreshment in the faces.”
Kvyat was able to offer his opinion on the team’s decision, calling it “a bit of a shock”, but reminding everyone that the goal is to finish strong no matter what team you are driving for. “The goals are clear – for the team and for myself – and I’ll be pushing absolute limits on the track,” he said during the conference. He doesn’t feel that his original move to Red Bull was premature, reminding everyone that just a few weeks ago he “was standing on the podium and then suddenly there were a few decisions made around” and wrapping up the question by saying “I think I have done everything correctly until now”.
Red Bull management has yet to give a clear explanation as to why the drivers were swapped and it would appear that the drivers don’t know either or aren’t willing to share. “There was no real explanation to be honest,” explained Kvyat. “I think if the bosses want something to happen, they just make it happen. Simple as that.” He also rubbished one of the team’s main explanations about Kvyat not being able to handle the pressure of competing with Ricciardo, explaining that he didn’t see that pressure was an issue.
He later described receiving the phone call from Helmut Marko while watching Game of Thrones on television:
“I was in Moscow, I was lying on the sofa, I was watching a TV series and then the phone call comes. It was “hallo, well, we have some news for you” and I think there was a 20 minute talk about… I wanted and I think I deserved an explanation. I got to know many interesting details, I must say, which I think I will keep to myself for now.”
It seemed that all of the Red Bull drivers were unwilling to discuss the driver swap, which has been the story of the paddock over the past week. There have been many rumors as to why the team chose to swap, but none of the drivers were able to expand on the reason, which is understandable. From the outside, it would appear that there are no hard feelings between Kvyat or Verstappen, as the pair had lunch together prior to the press conference.
Of course, the race will continue, despite all of the drama in the driver lineup. We will see the new driver lineup in action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the 46th running of the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.
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