Formula One: Pierre Gasly to replace Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso for a few races
By Asher Fair
Pierre Gasly is set to replace Daniil Kvyat at the Toro Rosso Formula One team for the first time in this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
Pierre Gasly, 21, who is currently a driver for the Red Bull Junior Team in the Japanese Super Formula Championship, is set to replace Daniil Kvyat, 23, at Formula One’s Toro Rosso race team this Sunday at the Malaysian Grand Prix. He will also likely drive in the Japanese Grand Prix in a few weeks, according to Autosport.
Gasly has also competed in the French F4 Championship, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, Formula Renault 2.0 Alps, Pau Formula Renault 2.0 Trophy, Formula Renault 3.5 Series, GP2 Series and Formula E throughout his motorsports career. He won championships in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2013 and in the GP2 Series in 2016.
Gasly currently sits in 2nd place in the Super Formula Championship standings with two races to go in the season. Through seven races, he has racked up two wins, a 2nd place finish, another top 5 finish and two more top 10 finishes. He has just one finish outside of the top 10 in 2017.
In fact, Gasly will be unable to race in the United States Grand Prix because of the fact that it takes place on the same day as the championship finale for the Super Formula Championship.
Here is what Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost had to say about Gasly getting the opportunity to drive for his team.
"“Toro Rosso was established by Red Bull to bring youngsters from its junior programme into Formula 1 and that’s what we are doing by giving Pierre this chance. He is the next in line at Red Bull for this opportunity and he has shown that he deserves it, having taken the 2016 GP2 title and this year being very competitive in the Super Formula series in Japan.”More from Formula OneFormula 1: Top Red Bull threat identified for 2024Formula 1: Why the Max Verstappen retirement obsession?Formula 1: Williams ‘mistake’ hints Logan Sargeant’s futureFormula 1 awaiting key confirmation for 2024 seasonFormula 1: The ‘championship’ Max Verstappen only leads by 3 points“He really has a valid chance of winning the title, as he is only half a point behind the leader. The driver switch gives us an opportunity to make a more informed decision regarding our 2018 driver choices.”“For a variety of reasons, some of them due to technical problems, but others being mistakes of his own making, Daniil has not really shown his true potential so far this year, which is why we are standing him down for the next races. This will give us the opportunity to evaluate Pierre on track during a proper race weekend.”"
Here is what Pierre Gasly himself had to say about this opportunity.
"“I would like to thank everyone who has helped me get this chance in my motor racing career and specifically, Red Bull, Helmut Marko and Toro Rosso – this is a great opportunity for me. I feel as ready as I can be, having had to be prepared for anything in my role as Red Bull Racing’s third driver this year. I will do my best to perform well with Toro Rosso during these coming races.”"
Kvyat being rested by Toro Rosso is not a huge surprise. Last season, he started out driving for Red Bull Racing in Formula One before essentially being demoted to Toro Rosso, switching spots with Max Verstappen, who actually ended up winning his first race as a Red Bull driver despite the fact that Kvyat was unable to secure a victory in 21 races with the team.
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Now this season, all but one of the 20 full-time Formula One drivers have scored at least one point so far. Of the 19 drivers that have, Kvyat has scored the least amount, as he has racked up just 4 points with two 9th place finishes through 14 races in 2017. All in all, Toro Rosso giving Gasly a chance in Formula One and resting Kvyat is completely justified.