Kvyat not performing as expected but no desire to replace him - Marko
- Published on 22 Aug 2020 15:33
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- By: Coilin Higgins
Red Bull's Helmut Marko has said AlphaTauri driver Daniil Kvyat is not performing as he would be expecting but confirmed there is no intention to currently replace the Russian driver.
Kvyat, racing with the team alongside Pierre Gasly this year, has struggled in comparison to his teammate.
Kvyat is currently sitting in sixteenth in the championship standings, where he has only managed to take two points from the six races in 2020 so far, while teammate Gasly is in thirteenth position with fourteen points.
Marko recently explained to Speedweek.com that he is keeping his eye on Red Bull drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson, both drivers racing currently in feeder series F2 and F3.
Marko noted how these drivers currently hold eligible super-licences and could drive in F1, but said there is currently no plans to replace Kvyat, while also confirming that Austrian driver Lucas Auer is also not a driver being considered.
“Yes, Daniil does not perform as we expected,” said Marko.
“But we are still just before half-time. Auer is not on my list
“Tsunoda in Formula 2 and Lawson in Formula 3 are currently in positions that qualify for a super-licence. But we are not thinking of exchanging Kvyat.”
Albon's Barcelona issues down to strategy and engineer
Marko also touched on the issues Red Bull's Alexander Albon, who struggled with pace at the recent Spanish Grand Prix, managing a lowly eighth position.
Marko put the blame on his strategy and on race engineer Simon Rennie, claiming the decisions made for the Thai driver during the race made him 'look stupid.'
The Austrian also denied recent reports that the team were looking to replace Albon, saying the team have no reason to replace him as long as he keeps performing.
“The performance in Barcelona, including the strategy, is on the cap of his race engineer," Marko added.
“Alex looked stupid then, not because of his fault. It was his worst race, but as long as he keeps going he is out of the discussion.”
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Replies (4)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
more like no valid candidate to replace him, innit, Marko?
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Exactly. Nobody is remotely close to being ready to be a top performer in F1. Kvyat is underpeforming, but he would still be massively better than those unproven rookies in F2 and F3.
The defense of Albon is weak. Albon is actually doing worse this year than last year, when he didn't have experience in the RB.
But I don't blame Marko for playing dumb here. Imagine what the admission of failure would say about their program. Three failures and one successful driver Max made it, the rest would eventually become all rejects
Dert38
Posts: 377
No "desire", luul
Kean
Posts: 692
If they're only gonna sign drivers coming out of their junior program, then that program needs to be made up by top shelf drivers, like it once was. Seems they're having problems attracting talent the way they used to. Until they do that they could recruit from outside, but then that would only damage the junior program. Catch 22 I guess.