Daniil Kvyat finds himself booted from the Red Bull team and moved to the Red Bull Junior Team, Toro Rosso. The Russian’s seat will be taken by Toro Rosso’s star driver, Max Verstappen. The decision comes after Kvyat’s double collision with the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.
Kvyat appears to have angered the team too much, as his collisions at the Russian Grand Prix impacted the performance of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, as well as Sebastian Vettel. The team had announced earlier in the season that the least performing Red Bull driver will most likely be out of the team at the end of the season to make room for Max Verstappen, but not many people expected a mid-season driver lineup shuffle.
Although all of the drivers within Red Bull and Toro Rosso are signed to a contract, the contract does allow the team to move the drivers within the different Red Bull Formula One teams. This makes the driver change totally legal.
Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, is happy to have Verstappen on Red Bull:
“Max has proven to be an outstanding young talent. His performance at Toro Rosso has been impressive so far and we are pleased to give him the opportunity to drive for Red Bull Racing.
We are in the unique position to have all four drivers across Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso under long term contracts with Red Bull, so we have the flexibility to move them between the two teams.
Dany will be able to continue his development at Toro Rosso, in a team that he is familiar with, giving him the chance to regain his form and show his potential.”
Max Verstappen was delighted to have advanced in his Formula One career and has been busy at the team factory preparing for the next race in Spain. “The next step in my relatively short career so far, is an amazing opportunity,” Max Verstappen said in an interview for his website. “I really want to thank Red Bull Racing and Dr. Helmut Marko for the confidence they have in me. I’ll have the chance to learn a lot from the top team that is Red Bull Racing. I’m also looking forward to work with an experienced and proven team mate like Daniel Ricciardo.”
Of course Kvyat’s Red Bull experience has not been entirely negative. He had piloted the RB12 to a podium in the Chinese Grand Prix and had collected 21 World Championship points so far this season. McLaren driver Jenson Button has been vocal about the situation, questioning the move in a Tweet:
Really? one bad race and Kyvat’s dropped, what about the podium in the previous race? #Shortmemories https://t.co/8YDBZPDP3v
— Jenson Button (@JensonButton) May 5, 2016
Verstappen will take part his first race with Red Bull at the next race on the calendar: the Spanish Grand Prix. The race will be held on the weekend of May 15 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with a post-Grand Prix test be held in the days after.
Vettel: Kvyat’s mistake “completely unnecessary”
No Love Lost Between Vettel And Kvyat
Weekend Summary: 2016 Russian Grand Prix
