21/10/2017
NEWS STORY
Unsure if he has a seat for next weekend, far less next season, Daniil Kvyat is seeking urgent talks with Toro Rosso before the United States Grand Prix weekend comes to an end.
The Russian, who was dropped by Red Bull following his home race last year, subsequently took Max Verstappen's place at Toro Rosso, the Dutch teenager going on to win his very first race with the Austrian team.
Following a difficult settling in period back at Faenza, Kvyat subsequently began to rediscover his form and was retained by the Italian outfit.
However, this season he has rarely impressed, and with Red Bull not known for its patience he was dropped after the Singapore Grand Prix in favour of Pierre Gasly.
Then came the decision to allow Carlos Sainz to join Renault ahead of schedule, a move further complicated by the added decision to allow Gasly to contest the final round of the Super Formula series in Japan.
As a result, Kvyat was brought back into the fold, to replace Sainz, alongside rookie Brendon Hartley, who is replacing Gasly who in turn is replacing Kvyat.
With the Faenza team yet to announce its line-up for Mexico and beyond, understandably, Kvyat wants to know what is happening. And he wants to know now.
"I think everything is possible to fix," he told reporters. "If there is a clear direction, a clear goal to fight for something big in the future, then I am more than happy to be part of this. If not, if my role will stay like this, one race you do, next race you don't know, then maybe it's less interesting.
"We have to sit down and talk about it and I think we will definitely have an answer," he said. "It will be a friendly talk, there will be no hard feelings."
However, not wanting any negativity from the talks to impact his performance, certainly in qualifying, the Russian believes it best the discussion is delayed until later in the weekend.
"I don't want to know too much during this weekend," he admitted. "Here behind curtains many things are going on, always. It's not like I am always just sitting waiting. I'm obviously thinking about other things, but now is not the right time to talk about this. I have a long term agreement with Red Bull and as long as it is valid, I will try to do my job as good as possible.
"It might sound funny but I will stay loyal until we have a good talk together," he insists.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Austin, here.