The CEO of Toro Rosso sponsor Acronis, Serguei Beloussov, expects Daniil Kvyat to be back in the car from the United States Grand Prix in Austin after it was confirmed Pierre Gasly would replace him from Malaysia.
The Frenchman is being given his opportunity to prove he deserves a seat with the junior Red Bull team in 2018, likely replacing the Renault-bound Carlos Sainz but it has come at the expense of Kvyat, whom team boss Franz Tost suggested hadn’t shown his best potential this year.
Though the length of time last year’s GP2 champion would get in the car was unspecified in the announcement, Beloussov claimed it was only for the next two weekends.
“He is just out for two races while Gasly is tested. Sainz is still leaving, so next season is still open,” he said.
It is known Gasly will likely miss the American race to compete in the Super Formula finale, where he has been racing this year and sits just half a point behind in the championship, it is the final three races after that which is currently unknown.
Igor Ermilin, president of the Russian automobile federation, also played down the significance of Kvyat’s dropping telling the Tass news agency: “Given the move to Honda engines next year, they can afford to experiment with the drivers.
“So I think missing those two races will not affect Daniil or the team in any way. I don’t think even they have decided what will happen next,” he added.
On the Honda point, current F2 driver Nobuhara Matsushita has also been linked to Toro Rosso for 2018. However, the Japanese has a tough task in the final two rounds of the F1 support series to reach the required championship position needed to score enough points for a superlicence to race in F1.
As for Gasly, he admits he faces a major challenge of being thrown into F1 at two of the most difficult races of the year with the heat of Malaysia and the difficulty of Suzuka.
“It will be different to anything I’ve done before,” he said. “I feel as ready as I can be, having had to be prepared for anything in my role as Red Bull Racing’s third driver this year.
“The other drivers have been racing all season, so I will have a lot of things to get used to and learn about. It’s a super challenge, and I can’t wait for it to start.”
On whether there were any nerves, the 21-year-old concluded: “I am not worried. I have worked hard to prepare for this and to get to Formula 1.”
