26/09/2017
NEWS STORY
Toro Rosso has announced that Pierre Gasly is to replace Daniil Kvyat as the Faenza team asseses the French driver.
"For the next Grands Prix, Pierre Gasly will be driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso, standing in for Daniil Kvyat, alongside Carlos Sainz," said the team in a brief statement this morning, carefully avoiding mentioning how many races Gasly will contest though stressing that the Russian "remains part of the Red Bull Family".
Gasly, one of the Red Bull Junior Programme drivers, has been racing in Japan this year in the Super Formula category. The 2016 GP2 Champion finished second in last Sunday's race, having won the two previous rounds. The 21 year old will therefore get his chance to prove himself in F1. This is not a case of goodbye for our Daniil, as he still remains part of the Red Bull Family.
"Scuderia 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," said Franz Tost. "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. 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 Kvyat has not really shown his true potential so far this year," added the Austrian, "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."
"I would like to thank everyone who has helped me get this chance in my motor racing career and specifically, Red Bull, Dr. Helmut Marko and Scuderia Toro Rosso," said Gasly. "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 Scuderia Toro Rosso during these coming races."
Previously, Gasly had been rumoured to be joining Toro Rosso for the final races of the season but replacing Renault-bound Sainz.
Though he "remains part of the Red Bull family", being dropped in favour of Gasly marks the second successive season in which Kvyat has been dropped in favour of another driver, the Russian losing his Red Bull seat to Max Verstappen following his home Grand Prix last year. Verstappen, on his debut, winning the subsequent Spanish Grand Prix.