Max Verstappen will join Red Bull for the Spanish Grand Prix whilst Daniil Kvyat returns to Toro Rosso

The move, widely thought to have been precipitated by the incident on Sunday which saw Kvyat clash with Sebastian Vettel twice, thereby eliminating the Ferrari driver from the race, and his own Red Bull teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, effectively ending his race also, was confirmed in a brief statement from the Austrian team this morning.

It read:

"Red Bull Racing will have a new driver line-up from the Spanish Grand Prix. Max Verstappen will be joining the team to drive alongside Daniel Ricciardo. Daniil Kvyat will continue to drive for Red Bull and will re-join sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso.

"Max has proven to be an outstanding young talent," said Christian Horner. "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.

"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.

"Dany will be able to continue his development at Toro Rosso, in a team that he is familiar with, giving him the chance to regain his form and show his potential."

"We are more than happy to welcome Daniil back to Faenza and look forward to having a successful season with him," added Franz Tost in a subsequent, 5-line, statement from Toro Rosso.

Jenson Button was the first driver to react to the news, the Briton taking to Twitter and effectively summing up the mood of many.

"Really?" wrote the McLaren driver. "One bad race and Kyvat's dropped, what about the podium in the previous race? #Shortmemories"

Red Bull's high executioner strikes again.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by rghawk, 06/05/2016 0:10

"I think there is no conspiracies theories here and only time will tell if this was the right move. One thing for sure, Kvyat lately driving skill made the decision easier for Red Bull. If it were Maldonado everyone would be asking for the Venezuelan head, I dont understand why the fuzz....Anyway, time will tell who is right..."

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2. Posted by F One, 05/05/2016 19:44

"Ridiculous. Yet another reason to despise Red Bull."

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3. Posted by edllorca, 05/05/2016 14:23

"Another case of teams disrespecting drivers. Let's see how many crashes Verstappen is going to cause..."

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4. Posted by Celtictiger, 05/05/2016 9:28

"I wonder if RBR used Kvyat's horrible race at Sochi as a shrewd excuse in order to justify the swap thus enabling Verstappen to be tied up with RBR in order to prevent other teams from snapping him up from under their nose. I heard rumors that Ferrari have their eyeballs on him, among other teams.

It wouldn't surprise me. That said, I'd be interested in seeing how Max gets on and see how quick he can adapt to the RB12. "

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5. Posted by Stitch431, 05/05/2016 9:17

"COngratulations to young Max! 18 yrs old and already in a top seat! Let's hope he does well. I do feel sorry for Kvyat, I can only imagine how that must feel.."

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Official: Kvyat and Verstappen swap seats

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