Tost sees a lot of potential in his drivers: "Kvyat was faster than Ricciardo"

Despite his relatively young age, Daniil Kvyat has already experienced a lot in Formula 1 at the age of 26. He had a strong start, was soon allowed to join the Red Bull main team, but was soon sent back to Toro Rosso. He then ran out of a seat and started working as a test driver at Ferrari, before returning to Toro Rosso.

Team boss Franz Tost said it might have been too early to promote Kvyat to the main team at the time. "But at that time, we had no choice. Sebastian Vettel went to Ferrari and the next choice was just Daniil. But we must not forget that he had little experience and came out of the GP3. That's just a class lower", says Tost in conversation with Formelaustria.at.

Still, the Austrian is positive about the performance of the Russian at Red Bull Racing. "Daniil is very fast and that is a natural speed. He was therefore several times faster than Daniel Ricciardo. You can see how often that was the case in the statistics. Fortunately, Kvyat was sent back to us, because he deserves to drive in Formula 1".

Unfortunate circumstances

A similar route to Kvyat also followed Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman was also allowed to join the main team, but was replaced after half a season. "Due to unfortunate circumstances and his involvement in a number of crashes, he was unable to show his true potential. Luckily he's now showing it to us again". The Frenchman finished on the podium in a Toro Rosso during the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2019.

The team boss is therefore pleased to be able to start the new season with the two 'rejected' drivers. "I think we have a great combination with Kvyat and Gasly. I expect good performances from both of them," Tost concluded.