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So Toro Rosso has just announced that Gasly will be replacing Kyvat for the remainder of the season. I for one wasn't expecting this at all, but I guess it makes sense for them. Most likely STR will be racing Kyvat and Gasly as their main drivers in 2018, so it makes sense for them to give the Frenchman some experience... although you have to wonder how this can hurt Toro Rosso's WCC prospects.
Toro Rosso is only RBR's guinea pig so I don't think they worry too much about constructors. Kvyat has had some bad luck and hasn't performed so makes sense that he wold be replaced. I think Kvyat's future is looking bleak. It's a shame really because I don't think he should ever have been replace by Max to begin with. Unfortunately, it was a confidence blow that he hasn't been able to recover from.
I think Toro Rosso care quite a bit about their WCC position now since, unless I've got my numbers wrong, the 5th placed team gets $35M in prize money; the 6th, $31.5M and the 7th, $24.5M. So there is quite a bit of money at stake here and there's not that large a gap between 5th and 7th in the WCC standings now.
I think Toro Rosso care quite a bit about their WCC position now since it essentially means getting several more (or less) million dollars in prize money over the next three years. From what I've heard, Red Bull is starting to get tired of funding their F1 team and they aren't going to be happy to let that much money escape... although, of course, now they've got Honda money, so I guess that would ease the pain.
Apparently it's just for two races for now; Kvyat will be back in for the US GP at COTA. This will allow Gasly to continue to contest the Super Formula championship.
Completely coincidentally (I'm sure) the US GP happens to also correspond to the time at which some of the points on Kvyat's super license expire and remove any jeopardy of suspension that he might be in otherwise.
Ever since Kvyat got dumped by Red Bull he's seemed like a broken man. He doesn't look like he has many options in F1 but I think he needs to leave the Red Bull/Toro Rosso family in order to rebuild his confidence and career
About time. Kvyat blows.
This is my hot, experienced take.
Being fired from Red Bull was probably deserved, but then Kvyat spent more than a full year at STR, and he still didn't get his act together. As far as Russian F1 drivers go, I am still a bigger fan of Petrov. He was far more consistent.Quote:
Originally Posted by emporer_k
Kvyat is now out of the Red Bull organization for good.
https://thejudge13.com/2017/10/25/kv...opped-from-f1/
I wonder what Kvyat will do next, but I wish him luck and recovery from obviously a very stressful and traumatizing experience of being an F1 driver in an ultra-competitive organization.
I still don't understand RBR's decision to replace him with Max. It may have turned out well for them but Kvyat had just had a podium, was leading Ricciardo in the points and had beaten Ricciardo the year before. The move to replace him with Max clearly devastated Kvyat's confidence and he has never recovered. I feel sorry for him and hopefully he'll get a stab at it with another team.Quote:
Originally Posted by zako85
And they moved him from one of the best cars on the grid to a relatively bad one that he had no experience in, paired him with a totally inexperienced race engineer (since they'd fired Max's), and put him up against a Sainz, who was very used to the car and very used to working with his very experienced engineer.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Black Knight
And then they say, oh boy, Sainz really demolished Kvyat, eh? I guess that means Kvyat never actually had any talent and everything that he accomplished before now (including destroying Sainz in GP3) was a fluke.
Well, that was last year. Kyvat has continued being useless this year too and he doesn't have the "new car" excuse anymore. Besides, changing to a Renault doesn't seem to have affected Sainz much, does it?Quote:
Originally Posted by sonnybobiche
Will Kyvat find a drive in Formula E?
I think there were worse drivers than Kvyat in Formula E. Former Formula 1 drivers are prized in many international competitions like Formula E or WEC. Besides, Kvyat is the most recognized racing name in Russia, so we can assume that he can also bring sponsors with him. Seeing Kvyat in Formula E would be really interesting because in FE he could still duke it out with another Red Bull reject, Sebastian Buemi. Buemi has already built himself quite a reputation in Formula E , having been a champion once and a runner up twice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeakiwi
Sainz finished 7th in the US and had an engine issue in Mexico. Not much to go on but I think he will be good.Quote:
Originally Posted by N4D13
Yup. In Mexico he had a high-speed spin which I didn't get to see on TV, but I guess that'd have been his fault. Still, getting 7th place on his Renault debut while Hülkenberg and Palmer's best positions had been 6th places, when the only retirement ahead of him was Ricciardo's, is nothing to sneer about. In comparison, Palmer's 6th place at Singapore (his only points finish) came after Verstappen, Alonso and the Ferraris were taken out. And his qualifying results with Renault have been pretty solid so far.Quote:
Originally Posted by N. Jones
Ah I didn't realise he suffered a spin in Mexico. I was wondering why he pitted and then remained last. As you say it was not seen on TV as far as I saw. It was never mentioned either by commentators here either.Quote:
Originally Posted by N4D13
Gasly and Hartley confirmed at Torro Rosso for 2018: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/h...n-2018-979459/
I'm not totally convinced this really is an improvement over Kvyat/Sainz.
Yes Red Bull's queue of young drivers isn't what it was a few years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by gm99
I think RBR will live to regret dropping Kvyat. I’m not convinced by either Gasly or Hartley. And I think RBR would have promoted Gasly a lot sooner to replace Kvyat had they really had huge faith in him. Helmut may soon, deservingly, find himself in the firing line if this pairing doesn’t work out. I think he has made some bad driver decisions over the last year and a half and, if his decisions don’t work out, I don’t see why he should receive anymore faith and patience (or lack of) than that he bestows upons Red Bulls drivers.