The United States GP was Daniil Kvyat’s last with Toro Rosso, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has confirmed, with the pairing of Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley to see out the 2017 season.
The Russian returned to the Italian team in Austin, having been replaced by Gasly for the Malaysian and Japanese Grands Prix, and was hoping the appearance would mark a final chance to prove his worth to Marko and fellow Red Bull bosses.
A strong weekend would see him claim his first points since Spain in 10th but it has now been revealed that was not enough to even be kept as an option for Toro Rosso in 2018.
“Kvyat will not return again,” Marko told Germany’s Auto Bild. “We do not believe he can make the turnaround in the long term.”
The comments will likely signal the end of the 23-year-old’s association with Red Bull after being touted as the next Sebastian Vettel when he won the GP3 championship in 2013, stepped up to the junior outfit in 2014 and then replaced the German at the senior team for 2015.
His career started to fall apart early last season, however, as, following a great podium in China, two collisions with Vettel on the opening lap of his home race in Sochi triggered Red Bull to swap him with Max Verstappen, the first time a driver had been demoted.
That did great harm to his confidence for the remainder of the year and now in 2017, he has again struggled to meet the potential he previously had which led to his eventual dropping.
At just 23, there is still hope Kvyat can turn his career around, though with limited options in F1 for next season it is likely he will have to race elsewhere before trying to earn another chance.
