Some sources are suggestion that as early as Barcelona, Verstappen will take Kvyats seat at RBR! I've no idea how accurate this is, but I'd welcome it... Red Bull could swap Verstappen-Kvyat as early as Spanish GP
I would agree, it is quite the over-reaction, but Red Bull was looking for an excuse to punt Kvyat for Verstappen in 2017 anyway, and this could be the window they were looking for. I will believe it when I see the press release....as they say stranger things have happened in F1 (Jenson Button returning to Williams some years ago?)
This is madness - verstappen shunted into the back of grosjean at Monaco and no one made any calls for him to go to a lower formula. It was one bad race. Last race he drove brilliantly and was on the podium
RedBull promotes youth at all costs over everything else. They were clearly looking for an excuse to make this move. I personally don't think Max is ready. He is still a bit immature, even after a full season under his belt. RB is going to screw him up by moving him up too fast.
Good news if true. The ruskie is a complete liability and is costing RB too much $$ and points. Max is ready.
I think he drives very mature, especially considering his age and limited post-karting experience. And he beats Sainz almost every race. It's his reactions sometimes that are somewhat immature, allthough more drivers have that problem. But I don't believe they will swap seats so soon, Kvyat was on the podium.
Single lap pace the Red Bull is faster. Race pace is tough to say, RBR has had irregular races most of the time so far this season (Ricciardo a blown tire from the lead in China, Kvyat torpedoed both RBR's pretty much out in Sochi). Apart from Sochi, Ricciardo has finished 4th in all races. It's a quicker car I think. ----------- I think everyone has seen what Verstappen can do, in a more convincing fashion than any other driver at STR apart from Vettel. Ricciardo only started to really put it all together when the Red Bull seat opened up and very convincingly beat Vergne from that point on. The Red Bull programme is there strictly to find the next world champion. I understand their position of dropping a driver when they don't see it. That's why I hate the ''Red Bull young driver career destroy programme'' it gets tagged with so often. It's not a charity organisation in order to employ anyone that is good at driving. IMO they've helped many drivers to get through to the next part of their career. Without Red Bull, most would likely be nowhere. There are many young racing drivers, and not much money right now to keep them all in a seat, let alone an F1 seat. Getting back to Verstappen; he's not an unproven subject anymore IMO. He was mostly sensational last year, and got right back on it again this season so far. Anyone that's been paying attention to Sochi could see how much he was slaughtering his teammate by, again. And Sainz is not exactly slow. Red Bull is not retarded. They know full well that Max will have to get used to the team and he'll be driving alongside a 3x race winner of massive capability. They won't drop him after a few races or even after this season.
Only 4 races, but right now the Red Bull is a better car. Even with both RIC and KVY blowing it in Russia, they stand 3rd in Constructors with 57 points, and Toro Rosso is 6th (behind Grosjean) with 17 points. RIC and KVY stand 4th and 8th, while VER and SAI are 10th and 14th. Just to throw out another opinion, if they swap Verstappen into a Red Bull this year, then we just get him taking out Vettel instead of Kvyat!
Setting aside the fact that Kvyat has shown enough speed over the past few seasons to retain his seat over a couple knucklehead moves in a race, I hope RB aren't foolish enough to promote Verstappen. The kid clearly has the markings of future WDC the way it was obvious with Hamilton and Vettel, but he's also shown that he's just not yet ready mentally (understandably so). They'd only be jeopardizing a future star's potential by rushing due process and prematurely applying the pressure of driving for the big boys.
THis is what happens when you put money ahead of talent....Toro Rosso already had a seat made for Félix da Costa, but then Kvyat poped out with a bag full of Money, and there was going to be a Russian g.p, and the Russian was far from being slow, so the other guy, who despite being a better driver had no money and no interesting nationality simply lost his place...
Max Verstappen replaces Daniil Kvyat in Red Bull F1 line-up - F1 - Autosport Autosport now claiming it as absolute fact!
by red bull: Max Verstappen joins Red Bull Racing Kvyat back to Toro that makes it official enough for me
Karun Chandhok makes a good point: Harsh penalty on Kvyat, but at China, Ricciardo had a puncture in 2nd lap, still finished only 7 seconds behind Kvyat.