Kvyat: Red Bull demotion was a knife in my back

Much was expected of Kvyat, part of the ruthless but efficient Red Bull young driver programme, the Russian who grew up racing in Italy impressed his backers enough to be given his F1 break with Toro Rosso in 2014.

From there he did enough to impress Helmut Marko and Christian Horner to get the nod and promotion to the Red Bull senior team, alongside Daniel Ricciardo; history shows that Kvyat was out of his depth against the Australian at his best at the time. That adventure lasted a year and three races, before he was demoted back to Toro Rosso, while young upstart Max Verstappen got the drive where he has remained to this day, with two F1 titles to his name.

In contrast, Kvyat's career in the top flight withered, his reputation tattered by the snub and return to Toro Rosso. Stats show that the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the last for the 28-year-old with 110 F1 starts to his name.

Looking back on what was an unsavoury time in his career, being demoted to Red Bull's junior team while Verstappen got promoted was a tough pill to swallow, exacerbated by the FIA who so no problem in the two drivers sharing press conference duty at the same time.

At the time, in 2016, Kvyat said: "Obviously the decision in a way was a bit of a shock also for myself. One week I was standing on the podium and then suddenly there were a few decisions made around.

"As I said, the bosses make them and I have nothing else but to accept them and do my best job possible now in the team I am with – and it is Toro Rosso. It should be OK – I think I have done everything correctly until now. And nothing will change from my side," he added.

Before Verstappen went on to seize the moment in Barcelona that year and win his first race in RBR colours, sitting beside Kvyat, the Dutchman said: "I think that’s not up to me to say who deserved it or not. I’m happy with the chance they’ve given to me and I will try to make the best of it. We’ll see where it ends up."

Since then Verstappen has gone on to win the two F1 world titles and is a 37-time Grand Prix winner, with a huge future ahead of him while the driver he replaced has found refuge in sportcar racing.

But speaking on the latest Track Limits podcast, Kvyat still remembers the life-altering episode well: “I really felt betrayed then, it was a knife in the back, but that's part of life. Sometimes that happens, it's normal. It is now in the past.

"I also have a great career in motorsport, so for that part, I'm grateful to Red Bull for the opportunities I've been given. As for the other part, I am still very dissatisfied with how that went," he added.

Growing up in Italy, to complete his karting career, Kvyat learnt Italian and became accustomed to living in the country, before his shares plummeted with the Red Bull saga, so much so that even Ferrari were interested in the Russian to replace an underperforming Kimi Raikkonen at the end of 2016.

Kvyat recalled: "I performed well, finishing on the podium in China, after which I received a proposal from Ferrari. That all happened behind the scenes. It was very difficult for me mentally: one moment I was in the picture at Ferrari and I was even presented with a contract proposal and the next moment I was returned to Toro Rosso by Red Bull and suddenly I was no longer good enough.

Nevertheless, life carries on for Kvyat outside of the cut-throat world of F1, and next year will race with an Italian licence after signing with Lamborghini in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) where he will team-up with former F1 racer Romain Grosjean.

Russian drivers must compete as neutrals in FIA championships, unless licensed by another country, and sign a commitment not to express support for the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Kvyat, who moved to Italy with his family early in his career and speaks fluent Italian, said of the next chapter in his racing career: "Lamborghini is a very well-known Italian brand with a great history in the automotive world and, having grown up in Italy, this is an additional source of pride for me."