“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”, Horner said to Formula One’s official website on Thursday. Kvyat’s demotion is believed to be a reaction to the Russian Grand Prix, where his collision with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel also damaged Daniel Ricciardo’s auto and left the team with no points.
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Verstappen will have a seat fitting at the Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes and acquaint himself with the RB12 in the simulator before heading to Barcelona for the Spanish GP, where he will swap teams with Kvyat.
“Max has proven to be an outstanding young talent”.
Kvyat was named Driver of the Day after finishing third in that race, but he had no defenders after colliding twice with Vettel in Sochi last weekend in an accident that also ruined Ricciardo’s race.
On this occasion, – unlike many Red Bull alumni before him -, Kvyat’s F1 story isn’t over and while you could consider that to be nothing more than a backhanded vote of confidence, Red Bull has seemingly galvanised itself by rearranging four drivers that each arguably now have more to prove to its employers than they did a few days ago…
Red Bull’s signing of Verstappen in 2014 was seen as an enormous coup, while his promotion to the team’s leading auto may be viewed as an attempt to prevent potential suitors from signing the Dutch sensation, with Mercedes and Ferrari credited with an interest.
This comes after mounting pressure on Daniil Kvyat thanks to recent crashes that have stirred doubt in the minds of his bosses.
“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”, said Horner.
The clash came just two weeks after Vettel had accused Kvyat of diving “like a torpedo” into his auto at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Furthermore, though the timing of the decision has been called into question, making the change before the fifth round does in fact make sense in a Red Bull context.
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Verstappen, meanwhile, is widely regarded as one of the best talents on the grid. And should Verstappen fail to make the most of this chance, the Russian could be ready and waiting to jump back in to the hotseat.
