Daniil Kvyat, Ferrari, 2018

Kvyat’s return with Toro Rosso confirmed

2019 F1 season

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Daniil Kvyat’s return to Formula 1 with Toro Rosso has been confirmed by the team.

Toro Rosso announced on Saturday Kvyat will return to take the place of Pierre Gasly, who is moving to Red Bull next year.

It will be Kvyat’s third stint with the team. The 24-year-old made his debut for Toro Rosso in 2014 before being promoted to Red Bull. He rejoined the team four races into 2016 after losing his seat at Red Bull and remained with them until last year’s United States Grand Prix, when he was dropped.

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost said Kvyat: “deserves another chance in Formula 1.”

“Daniil is a high skilled driver with fantastic natural speed, which he has proven several times in his career. There were some difficult situations he had to face in the past, but I’m convinced that having had time to mature as a person away from the races will help him show his undeniable capabilities on track.”

Kvyat thanked the team for giving him a chance to return.

“I am particularly pleased to be returning to a team I know very well. Toro Rosso has always made me feel at home and I’m sure it will still be the same next season.”

Since losing his seat at Toro Rosso last year Kvyat has worked on Ferrari;s simulator programme.

“I would also like to thank Ferrari for trusting my driving skills which allowed me to stay connected to F1 as their development driver,” he said. “Even if my duties were primarily simulator based, I’ve learnt a lot, and I now feel stronger and better prepared than when I left Toro Rosso.

“I never gave up hope of racing again, I am still young and I have kept in good shape to always be prepared in case another opportunity presented itself. I will give my best to deliver what the team expects from me and I can’t wait for everything to start again.”

Toro Rosso has not announced who Kvyat’s team mate next year will be. It has an option on the services of current driver Brendon Hartley.

RaceFans understands Sean Gelael will again drive for the team during practice at the United States Grand Prix. However his lack of the necessary superlicence points means he is unlikely to be a candidate for a 2019 seat.

This article will be updated.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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34 comments on “Kvyat’s return with Toro Rosso confirmed”

  1. Sebastian Vettel’s best buddy is back!!!

    1. Just when you thought it was safe to go into that corner…..The torpedo is back.
      I like Daniil’s attitude & his remark to Seb. “You too have a brake” still makes me laugh. Wish him well :-)

      1. I got so angry with that crash in 2016, but I do hope he shows his true skill this time around. I’m still convinced that he’s quick enough.

        1. The article says his current role is helping with Ferrari’s simulator development, so I guess that means he and Vettel have had time to reconcile their differences.

  2. One of those bizarre moments where F1 manages to surprise and yet also manages to delight. Definitely good enough for F1, got let go too soon. A shot at serious redemption. If he has the faith and full backing of the team (here comes the doubt) and has the right headspace, absolutely deserves a place in F1 and he’ll show it. A lovely development.

    1. I’d have preferred his comeback to be with some other team @hahostolze

      That said, given he’s partnered with Hartley (who’s not exactly Marko’s flavor du jour either), I don’t see much room for favouritism in favour of either driver coming into play.

      1. @phylyp I think Kvyat took Hartley’s seat. They still have one seat available. Some even says its Pascal Wehrlein.

        1. @ruliemaulana – ah, I didn’t realize that, I (wrongly) assumed Kvyat was filling Gasly’s seat. Wehrlein as a candidate is possible, given that he’s just ended his ties with Mercedes.

        2. The article actually says he takes Gasly’s space in the team.

          1. @franky – well spotted. Ruliemaulana’s point is still somewhat valid, as TR haven’t yet exercised their option on Hartley.

      2. @phylyp I have lost all love I used to hold for STR, and especially Tost. I agree it would be better if he found a way in elsewhere, but there are even better drivers like Ocon struggling to find a seat. F1 is very, very staid right now.

        1. @hahostolze Ocon has a contract with Mercedes that doesnt allow him to go to Renault, Ferrari or RB territory.

          1. @flyingbasil I know, but I don’t think anyone can argue that situation isn’t to the detriment of both the quality and the integrity of F1.

          2. Your claim is wrong. There where talks (and according to Wholff an oral agreement) between Mercedes and Renault about Icon @flyingbasil).

          3. @x303 that was some time ago, the current situation is the way i described it. At least thats what Ocon himself said.

  3. Waste of seat as much at minimum as Kimi.
    I do hope he will be dropped midseason again.

    1. Waste of seat? Redbull business is buoyant in Russia, and u prefer to have a Hartley (a driver without talent) or a better more developed driver, that gives the team lots of money in commercial business. Its the best employed seat in the grid. Also saying that Kimi is a waste of seat clearly denotes u don’t have too much idea, one of the top drivers, multiple winner of races, he’s been in the top teams, and fighting for everything… And its a waste of a seat. LOL the 2 most profitable persons for mid level teams. Kimi will bring lot of knowledge to Sauber, and the quality of being on the top, money doesn’t let u buy that for a mid level team!! And if u bring a youngster, it needs time to develop, and when he’s developed he leaves the team!!

      1. Hartley is a driver without talent comment means you do not know a lot about motor racing. You can only say that F1 isn’t his best as he did perform in other series (WC)

  4. This is just a ploy so he can be dropped again next year in order for Verstappen to win a race with a Honda engine ;)

  5. Better the devil you know…

  6. Massa has gone, Button has gone and Hartley is probably going. Ah well, at least we have Oco… Oh never mind. There’s always Sirotkin

  7. So that proves my statement that the driver is no longer really determing the performance. It just doesn’t really matter anymore who actually drives. Might as well make the cars autonomous …

    1. @hogee, if you believe figures such as Frank Williams, the driver never really was the determining factor in the first place – there was a reason that, more than 30 years ago, he said that it was the team and the car that made a driver what he was.

      1. Yet the driver is one of the most highly paid people in the team, especially if they are a WDC. Surely that indicates the driver has more, if not the most, influence on results. Thinking about results, I think it would be easier for a driver to get poor results than good results.

  8. An error IMO. They should’ve gone for something like Vandoorne-Hartley, or Wehrlein-Hartley instead. Kvyat’s time at STR was supposed to have come to an end already. The US GP of last season was supposed to remain his final race for Red Bull’s so-called junior team.

  9. I think Kvyat has potential but this is a ridiculous move by Red Bull. It proves that their driver management has been very bad since Max arrived. It created a huge gap and probably unrealistic expectations on other F1 hopefuls.

  10. Going 3 times to the same team in 5 years. This has to be a record.

  11. Didn’t he beat Ricciardo in the races they had in the same car?
    Not a bad driver.

    1. Not as many times as Ricciardo beat him ;)

    2. Similar to whatś happening this year, RIC had a lot of mechanical issues allowing his teammate to outscore him.

  12. He needs to come into this with the approach of it being a new start – If he goes into the first weekend with an agenda to prove something and immediately puts it in the barrier or causes a collision on the first lap of the race, he’ll be straight back into the pressure cooker.

    Don’t try and be a hero, don’t worry about putting the Torro Rosso higher than it “should be” or fighting the bigger teams, just knuckle down, get a feel for the car and team, beat your team mate and get to the chequered flag every opportunity you get.

    1. @joeypropane – or in simpler terms “remember that you’re the development driver for RBR/Honda’s 2019 alliance”.

  13. I certainly hope for Kvyat that getting a season of simulator work helps him get more consistent. The speed was there, when he had the confidence and didn’t mess up. Will be interesting to see how that goes next year.

    Now who can RB lure in for the second car, Vergne said no, Stoffel is off to FE, Russel&Ocon are not on the cards for their Mercedes ties, Buemi clearly also preferred staying in FE and Albon went there too.
    I guess Nyck de Vries could be available, as is Camara (will he have enough points to qualify for a Licence?). Or are they trying to lure young Schumacher in (if he wins F3 he would have enough points, right) – If I were him I wouldn’t take that over Mercedes or Ferrari.

    1. Oh,right, forgot about Pascal Wehrlein. That is probably the reason why they cut ties with Mercedes, to be an option for STR

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