F1: Again a bizarre move in the career of the youngest race driver ever!

The career of Max Verstappen is anything but usual, from karting to F3 to F1 even before he had reached the age to get his drivers licence.
At the age of 18, he is already into his second season in the highest class of autosport and competing with the very best drivers in the world.
Many had their doubts, but he has shown the world that he was not only ready for F1, he has also shown that he is an phenomenal race driver and can compete with the big boys for a win if he has the right material.

With only two seasons of experience under his belt in autosport (one year in F3 and one year in F1) last Thursday the news broke that he will be driving alongside star race driver Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull, Kvyat will drive for Toro Rosso in the remainder of the 2016 season.
A driver swich that stunned many and raised many questions.
Apparently Helmut Marko was not very happy with the performance of Kvyat and at Toro Rosso tensions were high between the two teams on either side of the garage.

Despite this golden opportunity, for Max Verstappen it will be the ultimate showdown, try to match the performance of Daniel Ricciardo, that is his task for this year.
Daniel Ricciardo is probably the best race driver on the grid in current F1, so it will not be easy to do so, let alone beat him.

At Toro Rosso, two old teammates from their period in F3 will fight their battle, my prediction is that Sainz will win.
For Red Bull, this is a luxury to have a good comparison of their race drivers.
For Max there is a risk, if he fails to perform on par with Daniel Ricciardo, it will do his career no good.
On the other side, if he succeeds in doing so, Daniel will have a teammate who pushes him, but also Red Bull to new hights.

Generally it is not done to switch teams during a season, a new team, new engineer, a different car with other characteristics and approach for the car setup, For Max and Kvyat this certainly won't be easy.
Especially for Kvyat who has been degraded to the B-team of Red Bull.

a reply to: earthling42
So you are saying this young semi inexperienced racer should be given entry into the season because of his talent
To drive a multi million dollar car.


Yeah, I could understand why they would take him up through the ranks carefully, think it would be irresponsible not to make sure he is ready

He could be a Mark Marquez or a Simoncelli

a reply to: Raggedyman

There is no question of entry into the season since both Max Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat were already competing in F1 last season and this season.
I'd prefer them to drive for the team at which they started this season, a swap between race drivers during a season generally is not favorable for the race drivers.

a reply to: earthling42

Ah, sorry I am not familiar with F1
That does make some sense then

I wouldn't imagine there would be much difference between a RB set up to TR set up?

Be interesting to see how the pup drives in one of those cars

a reply to: Raggedyman

Although both teams are owned by Red Bull (Toro Rosso team-B, Red Bull team-A) the cars are quite different from one another.
Each year a team either designs a completely new car or do a development on the old chassis if regulations are unchanged.

In the case of Toro Rosso, James Key had to completely redesign the Toro Rosso due to a change of engine supplier.
The chassis of Red Bull is designed by Adrian Newey, they were able to refine their old car because Renault is their engine supplier like in the previous years.
The Toro Rosso has a longer wheelbase, are Ferrari engine and a gearbox which is designed by technicians at Toro Rosso.
But also the suspension system is different so both Max and Daniil will need some time to get used to their car, gain trust and have to learn how to properly setup the car in order to extract the full potential out of the car.

Just goes to show again what a farce F1 has become, when rookie drivers can master these ridiculously easy to drive cars.

a reply to: Painterz

That is quite easy for someone to say, i think it has to do with talent and good preparation.

a reply to: earthling42

"Are they ready?" has been a theme in F1 for over a decade. Look at Alonso or Vettel or Raikkonen, they were all thought too young and inexperienced to earn their seats. Kimi got a Super licence to race with Sauber in 2001 with very little racing experience period. Vettel owns so many of the "youngest F1" this-and-that records...Max and Daniil own those dubious distinctions now.

Have they finally determined how young is too young?

Alonso, Kimi and Vettel all became Champions. Vettel and Kimi are Champions and are at Ferrari together so that worked out for them in-spite of the experts saying they are too young and inexperienced. Not to say that Max or Daniil are the next Kimi, Alonso or Seb. Only time will tell.

What is strange is the mid-season move. Especially because the gap between Toro Rosso and RedBull is not what it used to be in the Minardi days. Other than his admittedly very poor Russian GP, Kvyat is a super talented young-gun in his own right. It makes me wonder how much influence Jos-the-boss has in the Red Bull garages. I was a fan of Jos at Arrows, but the best that can be said about him is "promise unfulfilled". So it doesn't fit that he has so much influence, but apparently he has. Odd.

Both Daniil and Max are potential Champions and RedBull seem determined to screw it up. They have the chassis and the talent, all they need is Renault to get their poop-in-a-pile...and not screw up their two Hot-shoes. Something they seem determined to do.

(Of course, the other answer is the endless Ferrari conspiracy that The Bernie will do whatever Ferrari wants and Ferrari wanted the young Russian punished.)

a reply to: Leonidas

Yes, as i understand it, one must be at least 18 years old in order to be able to apply for a super licence.

The mid-season move is indeed strange, this can really hurt the career of both Max and Daniil.
For Daniil it already has damaged his career since he seems to be degraded.
But we do not know what is at play behind the scenes, the move brings a new Russian sponsor to Toro Rosso so long as Kvyat and Frans Tost are part of the team.
Will Red Bull be looking to sell their B-team? who knows.

Jos won't have much influence in the Red Bull garage, F1 has changed alot since he drove his last race.
But he is the father of Max and has his connections which might have led to Max leaving to Ferrari or another team.
At the end of this season he was free to move to another team, something Helmut Marko obviously does not want.
But the new long term contract still does not recuire a move like this in mid-season.
Maybe they want him to be familiar with the team and the car for the season of 2017.

Not only Vettel and Ferrari but also Daniel and Red Bull were quite disappointed with the result of the Russian GP, valuable points were lost by both teams and drivers.
But this happens in racing, Daniil is certainly not the first or the last to have a first lap incident with another competitor.
I doubt that this really is a form of punishment, in my opinion Red Bull is already busy with 2017 and wants to be well prepared to fight for the championship.

my only opinion on this matter = ` red bull ` having control over 2 teams

there have been valid an spurious acusations of " team tactics " being employed in previous F1 seasons

when an organisation has effective control of 2 teams the potential for meta-team tactics has to be at least acknowledged

i am not acusing red bull of using thier 2nd team as a foil to enhance thier first teams results

but if i owned 2 teams - " how can i get away with meta-team tactics " ? would be somthing i put thought into

PS - " team tactics " is the practice of using the second driver to give advantage to the 1st - wither by illegal ` blocking ` against other cars to prevent them over taking - or prohibiting the 2nd driver from overtaking the first to ensure the 1st driver gets more points // wins "

I think this mid season change is going to have some ugly ripple effects for the rest of the 2016 season.

Animosity and deflated/puffed up prides are going to play a big factor in how these teams interact now.

If nothing else, it's going to be very interesting to see how they handle each other on the track... me thinks there's going to be some nasty maneuvers going on.


Let the drama begin...

i have never liked redbull, as a drink or an F1 team.
i have alway liked their driver's, but as a team they do some pretty ****** things.
i dont think kvyat did anything wrong, i thought the 10 second penalty was ott, nevermind a demotion to torro rosso.
i think rb were just looking for an excuse to put wonderboy verstappen in a rb car.

i hate to be petty, but i hope this backfire's for redbull.

a reply to: earthling42

I'm sorry, but Ricciardo is probably the 5th best driver on that grid, if that! Below are all champions, all better then him by far.

Hamilton
Alonso
Vettel
Kimi