In an odd turn of events, Toro Rosso has sidelined Daniil Kvyat for races in the 2017 season. This gives the team the chance to test out their candidate for the 2018 empty seat, Pierre Gasly. Kvyat will still remain part of the team, at least for the rest of the season.
With Carlos Sainz heading over to Renault at the end of the season, Toro Rosso will have an empty seat to fill. The likely candidate for 2018 is Pierre Gasly, one of the Red Bull Junior Programme drivers. This driver switch will be a test run for Gasly and help him cement his position on the team for 2018.
Although it wasn’t confirmed by the team, Kvyat is expected to take part in the United States Grand Prix, while Gasly competes in the finale of the Super Formula series on the same date.
However, this latest driver swap shows that Kvyat may be under threat of losing his seat in 2018. Kvyat already had a chance to make it big, having been promoted to Red Bull in order to replace Vettel. He was quickly demoted back to Toro Rosso following his accident in Russia. It’s unlikely that Kvyat will get the chance to advance again and the team knows that.
“The driver switch gives us an opportunity to make a more informed decision regarding our 2018 driver choices,” said Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost. “For a variety of reasons, some of them due to technical problems, but others being mistakes of his own making, Daniil Kvyat has not really shown his true potential so far this year, which is why we are standing him down for the next races.”
At this time, Toro Rosso’s 2018 driver lineup has not yet been confirmed. The team does not currently hold a contract with any driver for 2018, leaving plenty of options to shuffle things up.
