Marko: Kvyat was very inconsistent

Red Bull's driver Helmut Marko consultant has explained the reasoning behind dropping Daniil Kvyat from the energy drinks organisation's top tier team, back to the Toro Rosso, was to protect the Russian while diffusing the mounting tensions between Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz in the junior team.

Marko said, "It was primarily a measure to take away the pressure on Daniil, which was available this year. He has not nearly the same performance as last year. He was an average of three to five tenths slower than Ricciardo. Last year he was at eye level."

"But what was much more difficult: He was very inconsistent, had many ups and downs. Sometimes it was good, as was seen in China, but he has put so much pressure on himself that these fluctuations come automatically."

"The crash in Sochi is a consequence of the internal pressure, which he has built himself, it did not come from us. Our luxury is that we have the ability to set him up at Toro Rosso again. Romain Grosjean was once in a similar situation and had crash after crash. We wanted to avoid that," explained Marko.

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