Daniil Kvyat reveals he lost the chance to be Max Verstappens teammate at Red Bull due to othe

Publish date: 2024-05-11

Daniil Kvyat was forced out of Formula 1 at the end of 2020 after losing his AlphaTauri seat. The Russian driver has had two stints at the Faenza-based team after he was demoted from Red Bull in favor of Max Verstappen four rounds into 2016. Now, Kvyat has revealed that he was snubbed of a potential opportunity to partner Verstappen at Milton Keynes.

Kvyat was called back to Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) in 2019 after Pierre Gasly was promoted to Red Bull. However, Gasly had a miserable stint against Verstappen and was on the verge of being replaced by the summer break. The Russian driver admitted that he was being considered for the second seat at Milton Keynes.

There were a lot of rumours and talking behind the doors about me going back to Red Bull, and I would have really wanted that.
Daniil Kvyat told F1

However, Red Bull decided to promote rookie Alex Albon to the team after just half a season in F1. Daniil Kvyat reckoned that other interests were at play within Milton Keynes. As such, the Austrian team made the call to have Albon race alongside Max Verstappen. Although, the Russian driver did not elaborate on this matter.

But there was other interest, other games going on behind and they needed to put my team-mate Alex Albon in Gasly’s car at that time, so that’s the way it went.

Daniil Kvyat couldn’t continue with AlphaTauri in 2021

The Russian driver stayed at the Faenza-based team when it rebranded to AlphaTauri in 2020. However, Kvyat could not manage to outperform teammate Pierre Gasly. Subsequently, Red Bull decided to replace the 29-year-old with the Honda-backed Yuki Tsunoda for the following season.

Daniil Kvyat admitted that he lost the seat for 2021 as he was no longer a junior driver. The Russian driver had earned enough experience at the pinnacle of motorsport but had failed to make a mark in his latest stints. Ultimately, Kvyat moved to a reserve role with Alpine before ending his career in F1.

After the covid season in 2020, Toro Rosso had to put another driver in the junior team and I was not a junior anymore, simple as that.

Kvyat remains a talented driver despite being ousted from F1. The 29-year-old will be racing for the Lamborghini Iron Lynx. Another former F1 driver Romain Grosjean is also part of the Italian team for its first season in WEC’s Hypercar class this year.

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