Controversial Verstappen driver swap breeds Red Bull frustration

A former Formula 1 star has spoken of his regrets surrounding Red Bull's performance struggles that stopped him from challenging for a championship.

Max Verstappen has been with the Red Bull team since 2016, having been promoted from Toro Rosso, and has gone on to win 61 races and three world championship titles.

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The man that Verstappen replaced was Russian driver Daniil Kvyat, who raced in the sport between 2014 and 2020, claiming three podiums.

His ascent into the main Red Bull team was also swift. Following the departure of Sebastian Vettel, he partnered Daniel Ricciardo for the 2015 season, despite having just one season with the Toro Rosso team before that.

However, Red Bull's car was not capable of regularly challenging for race wins during those seasons, with Mercedes dominating the sport.

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Kvyat delivers wild championship claims

Kvyat was demoted for Verstappen in 2016, following a run of poor results, and found himself back with the sister team.

Barring one season out of the sport in 2018, Kvyat stayed at Red Bull's sister team until the end of the 2020 season, when he was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda.

Now, the 30-year-old takes part in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as well as racing part-time in the Nascar Xfinity Series.

Kvyat has been reflecting on his time in the sport, hinting at the regret he feels that Red Bull were not capable of challenging for championships during his time with the Milton Keynes outfit.

"I will always look at it knowing that I did not get the maximum out of it," he said in an interview with Formule1.NL.

"I had the potential to at least fight for the championship as a driver. Of course, chance plays a role. In Formula 1, it depends on many factors whether you win or not. And you are always dependent on the material you have at your disposal, as we have clearly seen recently. In fact, the car often dictates who finishes first, fifth and tenth.

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"In other words, the stars also have to be a little bit favourable to you in Formula 1. So that you end up in the best car as the best driver. Of course, to win you have to do a lot of things well, but what I am trying to say is that you also have to have a number of circumstances on your side. And that was not always given to me.

"As I said, I know what I am worth as a driver and in a championship-worthy car I would definitely have been a contender for the championship. I don’t like to use big words and say that I would have won easily, because the competition in Formula 1 is fierce and has always been that way. That’s how it should be and that’s also why we all want to drive in Formula 1. We all love that intense competition.

"Looking back, I got my chance at Red Bull when the car was not great, to say the least. And of course Max, but earlier also Sebastian Vettel, had his chance at Red Bull when the car was very strong."

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