Whilst the decision itself - aside from a handful of rumours late in the day - came out of the blue for the majority of us racing fans, the speed with which the news came to me suggests that this decision had been made long before Kvyat's first lap antics played it's part.
Now I'll be first to admit that I am by no means unique in this line of thinking, some may even surmise that Kvyats' future had been decided before Melbourne or even as far back as pre-season testing. But what is important here is not the why or the how, we all really know that Red Bull have played their cards to keep Verstappen away from prying eyes. The real question is what happens to Kvyat from here?
On the face of it, things aren't rosy. Even Daniel Ricciardo would struggle to walk into the Catalunya paddock next weekend with a smile on his face had he been the one to be demoted. Considering the short time Kvyat has had a leading car at his disposal will only add to the young Russian's clear frustrations with his own performance at Sochi, and indeed perhaps across the last year and a half. However, I for one truly believe that the situation which has presented itself to Kvyat is the single best thing that could have happened to him. No seriously. I do.
Just over two weeks after securing Red Bull's first podium since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix, Kvyat, courtesy of some admittedly very clumsy driving last weekend, finds himself taking a step back to Toro Rosso in what many agree to have been a predetermined move by Red Bull.
Verstappen has been toted as a sure-thing for a Red Bull seat as early as 2017, but I suspect that not even he expected to get the call up so soon, despite rumblings that camp-Verstappen had been placing Red Bull under significant pressure to either promote their man, or risk losing him to a competitor.
The Red Bull driver programme has been notoriously vicious culling drivers from their lineup. Just ask Vitantonio Liuzzi, Scott Speed, Jean Eric-Vergne, Sebastian Bourdais and perhaps most unfairly of the bunch: Jaime Alguersuari, Sebastian Buemi. However, excluding Bourdais and Speed, there is one thing these drivers have in common. All were culled towards the end of the season where a chance of securing an alternative seat was almost non-existent. Kvyat, as a fellow exception to the rule, has the chance to defy the odds.
Whilst Bourdais and Speed were fired completely from F1 purely on performance grounds, because let's be honest here; they were utterly rubbish. Kvyat has been dropped, regardless of what Red Bull's PR might want us to believe, to make way for one of the most promising talents in recent memory. Add to that the fact that he will still get to see out the season in what is currently a rather handy package in the STR11, with a 2015 Ferrari donkey in the back and a very well balanced chassis, means that all is not lost for young Kvyat.
Not only does it give him a decent car to fall back on, but almost all of the pressure that he faced in a top-tier team is now gone and he can focus purely on beating the fiery Spaniard in the opposing garage. No mean feat, mind you.
The odds of seeing Kvyat in a Red Bull branded car in 2017 are admittedly on par with Toto Wolff actually admitting that Ferrari are not that close to Mercedes after all (come on Toto are you really fooling anyone?), Kvyat has another 17 races to show F1 and the wider racing community just why we were all so eager to leap aboard the 'Kvyat hype train' in 2014.
Whilst seats for 2017 may well be few and far between, a solid sponsorship backing and some good feisty drives for Toro Rosso could put Daniil back in the driving seat (pardon the pun). Let's be clear, if he wants to get back into a top team, he needs to start delivering. He has been significantly slower than Ricciardo all season long (he's been out-qualified at every race so far this season) and lucked into the podium finish in China. There's no question he has the speed to deserve a seat in Formula One as he showed in 2014 and 2015, but so far 2016 has been a sub-par season.
All we can hope is that he makes the best of this 'opportunity' that has presented itself. Regardless of whether this 'opportunity' should have even been considered just four races into the 2016 season.
Do you think Kvyat can flourish once more now that he's back with Toro Rosso?
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