Formula One: Red Bull Racing to release Daniil Kvyat from Toro Rosso

By Asher Fair | Oct 25, 2017

AUSTIN, TX - OCTOBER 20: Daniil Kvyat of Scuderia Toro Rosso and Russia during practice for the United States Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on October 20, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) /

Red Bull Racing is set to release Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat after he spent four years with the organization in Formula One.

Daniil Kvyat, 23, will not be returning to the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team again this season or at all in the 2018 season after he spent over two full seasons with the team and nearly four full seasons in the Red Bull Racing organization.

Kvyat began his Formula One career as a test driver for Toro Rosso in the 2013 season before getting a full-time ride with the team in the 2014 season. After a 2014 season with the team during which he finished as high as 9th place three times and finished in 15th in the drivers standings, he was promoted to Red Bull Racing in 2015.

In that 2015 season with Red Bull Racing, Kvyat tied or topped his previous career-high finish of 9th place 11 times in 18 races. He set a new career-high finish of 2nd place at Hungary en route to a career-high 7th place finish in the drivers standings.

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In the 2016 season, Kvyat continued driving for Red Bull Racing. He started three of the first four races that season and finished on the podium in one of them. However, he was replaced by Max Verstappen at Spain in the fifth race of the season and sent back down to Toro Rosso, where he finished no higher than 9th place the rest of the season and ended up in 14th in the drivers standings.

Once again in the 2017 season, Kvyat began driving for Toro Rosso. Through the first 14 races of the season, he finished as high as 9th place twice before being replaced by Pierre Gasly for two races. Kvyat made his return to the team with a solid 10th place finish at this past weekend’s United States Grand Prix, but it evidently was not enough to keep him with the team for any longer.

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With former Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz Jr. having just left the team for Renault a few weeks ago and Daniil Kvyat now officially done with the team, this leaves two seats for the team to fill prior to next season. The early favorites to fill those seats are Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley, who are set to be the team’s drivers this weekend in the Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and have already driven in at least one race for the team this season.

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