Kvyat Out Again As Hartley Returns for Mexico

[Nick Hill]

When I saw him yesterday in the Williams pits I did think to myself it would be great to see him back in an F1 car to add more excitement back into F1, I did enjoy many of the races he competed in, he was always an entertaining driver to watch and pulled off some seriously impressive moves in his time.

JPM is a pure racer. Seems to me a lot of the guys in F1 seats today drive more like they are direct reports of their team's accounting department!

 

[snyperal]

As Eddie J said. Kvyat isn't working, try something new.

Hartley let the cat out of the bag when he said he needed to work on standing starts for future races.. I wonder if being an endurance driver if he'll have the aggression to get the moves done if he has the pace? But I do like the guy.

 

[Yapci]

Kvyat demoted again? Next race win for Max!

 

[Andrew Harper]

Delighted. Rate Hartley highly, rate Kvyat not one little bit.

Good call TR

Agreed, I have no issues with Kyvat and he has his good races but Hartley did a good job in the US race.

Considering he hasn't sat in an F1 car for a long time he did pretty well, I'm sure like all drivers he's his own worst critic and will take away lots of information to help carry him forward in Mexico. Again a track he will know well from the WEC.

His after race interview was interesting as he was saying he had to get used to so many things. Mainly the tyres that Pirelli supply. In the Porsche he can push on those Michelins for almost the entire stint but the Pirelli's won't take that amount of punishment and that requires experience on the tyres and how they perform over the course of a race stint. The weather was also a lot warmer compared to the practice days so that would have had an effect as well.

Due to the gap between races he won't be able to spend any time in the simulator so he'll be in the dark again a bit on how they will perform over long runs in Mexico but he deserves his chance and I hope he goes well.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I really feel sorry for Kvyat now after another demotion.

I thought that Hartley was actually a youngster until I looked him up on Wiki and the bloke is already almost 28. Why are Torro Rosso as the junior team putting time and energy into a 27 year old F1 rookie?

 

[Tberg]

I really feel sorry for Kvyat now after another demotion.

I thought that Hartley was actually a youngster until I looked him up on Wiki and the bloke is already almost 28. Why are Torro Rosso as the junior team putting time and energy into a 27 year old F1 rookie?

Yeah, something smells funny here....wonder if politics beyond F1 is at play.

 

[apex11]

2016: Demoted from Red Bull
2017: Demoted from Toro Rosso
2018: Demoted from F1

Lets be honest he was only really in F1 because he's Russian anyway, I won't miss Kyvatt and i'm not a fan of any driver, but to think some 27 year old fella is somehow worth investing in is rather odd and like others have said what else is at play here?
Kyvatt when in a good car like the Red Bull could score podiums, so either he was or is pretty good or he's actually crap and the car was the reason he got a podium.... I know which one i think it is....

 

[F1Aussie]

He wasn't anywhere near Kyvat all day in lap times. Gasly was a bit competitive with sainz in malaysia.

Really? You obviously did not see that his fastest lap was 1 second quicker that kvyats in the race.

 

[apex11]

Really? You obviously did not see that his fastest lap was 1 second quicker that kvyats in the race.

Someone said that was tyres i.e. he went on ultra soft or whatever comedy tyres they use. Plus we all know that with track limits being taken liberties with he could of cut a corner for example.

These F1 drivers aren't the pinnacle of the drivers of the world, the cream of the crop, no reason why Hartly can't be faster than a former podium driver in fairness though.

 

[Redvaliant]

There is a breakdown of Hartley's lap times vs Kvyat's and Verstappen's over on Motorsport. It is pretty clear he has the speed that TR believe he has and the ability to up his game with more experience. Oh, and 27 is not old...Hill was in his 30s when he got called up to Williams.
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/how-good-was-hartley

 

[apex11]

There is a breakdown of Hartley's lap times vs Kvyat's and Verstappen's over on Motorsport. It is pretty clear he has the speed that TR believe he has and the ability to up his game with more experience. Oh, and 27 is not old...Hill was in his 30s when he got called up to Williams.
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/how-good-was-hartley

Hill was 30 and also got put in the best car on the grid AND was what Williams were looking for, British and famous father / name.
One minute he's getting lapped twice in a Brabham, next he's going for WDC...
Like i say this doesn't prove Hartly is some legend in the making, it simply means its a myth that F1 gets the cream of the crop.... plenty of pro drivers could do what Harlty did and better but will never get a sniff of a drive.

"So Mr team owner, just what was it that attracted you to the Mexican driver who is personally sponsored by the billionaire Mexican who pretty much owns the country?"

 

[Andrew Harper]

There is a breakdown of Hartley's lap times vs Kvyat's and Verstappen's over on Motorsport. It is pretty clear he has the speed that TR believe he has and the ability to up his game with more experience. Oh, and 27 is not old...Hill was in his 30s when he got called up to Williams.
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/how-good-was-hartley

Thanks for that; a great article. I'd forgotten that he missed out on valuable dry weather running in practice so actually that makes his pace even more impressive.

Hopefully he'll get to start where he should in Mexico (without technical penalties) and we will get a better understanding of his overall pace.

He deserves his chance and he is making the most of it, that's what matters. I would prefer to see someone like him in the car rather than a driver with umpteen million in sponsorship who's just bought their way in.

Wishing him a great race in Mexico

 

[DaVeX↯]

Seriously guys, Toro Rosso will have Honda engines...no matter who will be the driver, he won't finish half of the races...and remaining half will start from the end of the grid, lol

 

[Patrick van der Meulen]

Seriously guys, Toro Rosso will have Honda engines...no matter who will be the driver, he won't finish half of the races...and remaining half will start from the end of the grid, lol

Well it’s quite likely gonna be the scenario for STR. But on the other hand, the relationship between McLaren and Honda already was in murky waters and tense before this season. Which didn’t do the commitment of both any good and could well have been negatively impacting Honda’s development. So it well could become the (unlikely) surprise of the 2018 season.

 

[apex11]

You will know when the Merc isn't the best car when the factory team leaves F1. No way can they ever go back to coming even 2nd in the WCC after this success and i think Merc will ship out as a factory effort.
By this point Ferrari will be really for a proper assault on WCC and WDC and guess who will rock up and land the best car developed by someone else YET AGAIN.... Lewis....
I could happen.

 

[Patrick van der Meulen]

All over the motorsports news that Helmut Marko have stated Kvyat is fired out of the Red Bull drivers program and they will finish the rest of the season with the Kiwi and the French bread. Extremely sour for Kvyat but it was almost the only possible outcome after the news Kvyat would not drive in Mexico.

Still would love to see him racing in a team which would fit him better. Wouldn’t mind to see him at Williams next season. A real fresh start and no longer the pressure of the tyranny of Helmut Marko. We will see...

 

[apex11]

There was talk of Kyvatt being in F1 due to Russian GP and a deal with Putin.
Someone could die...

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

So that's four different driver combinations in 5 races for Toro Rosso. Not a record, but quite a game of muscial chairs.

 

[Coffer]

There is a breakdown of Hartley's lap times vs Kvyat's and Verstappen's over on Motorsport. It is pretty clear he has the speed that TR believe he has and the ability to up his game with more experience. Oh, and 27 is not old...Hill was in his 30s when he got called up to Williams.
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/how-good-was-hartley

The sport has changed massively since Damon's time. Drivers like him wouldn't even cut it at the back of the pack where the likes of Wehrlein would eat him alive while still improving. And that link, which conveniently forgets about Verstappen's traffic in the first stint as well as him starting on supersofts, says nothing compared to this one: https://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/10...-prix-interactive-lap-times-and-fastest-laps/. Just look at the difference between Kvyat's times and those of Hartley. When you consider that Hartley was on a 2-stopper and never had to put on the softs, his pace is bad even for an F1 rookie. Goes to show how good Lotterer was when he had his one and only short-lived race.

Hill was 30 and also got put in the best car on the grid AND was what Williams were looking for, British and famous father / name.
One minute he's getting lapped twice in a Brabham, next he's going for WDC...
Like i say this doesn't prove Hartly is some legend in the making, it simply means its a myth that F1 gets the cream of the crop.... plenty of pro drivers could do what Harlty did and better but will never get a sniff of a drive.

"So Mr team owner, just what was it that attracted you to the Mexican driver who is personally sponsored by the billionaire Mexican who pretty much owns the country?"

If anything this shows the opposite: that WEC drivers will not have an easy time in F1 where the quality of the field is significantly higher. And don't give me that nonsense about "pro drivers" who will "never get a sniff of a drive". If they were any good, they would've gotten some sort of sponsorship or joined a young driver academy. You don't have to be good to be sponsored, but if you want to show the world that you are good, you have to seek out that sponsorship and not just scoff at it because that's all your ego can handle. That's what rightly cost Frijns his shot in F1, after all - if he hadn't publicly insulted Red Bull and then gone on to get fired (and not just released) from Sauber for not having enough potential on top of having zero funding, maybe he'd have a seat right now. Now he's just seen as an egomaniac stuck in an irrelevant series who's a favorite of those who are too envious of those who know how to work towards their opportunities.

 

[Patrick van der Meulen]

You don't have to be good to be sponsored, but if you want to show the world that you are good, you have to seek out that sponsorship and not just scoff at it because that's all your ego can handle. That's what rightly cost Frijns his shot in F1, after all - if he hadn't publicly insulted Red Bull and then gone on to get fired (and not just released) from Sauber for not having enough potential on top of having zero funding, maybe he'd have a seat right now. Now he's just seen as an egomaniac stuck in an irrelevant series who's a favorite of those who are too envious of those who know how to work towards their opportunities.

Well, Frijns told Red Bull threats their drivers like dogs. Which isn’t far from truth. Was it clever? No, but at least he's honest.

And his current job as factory driver for Audi would still be a dream job for most aspiring pro drivers. And to call for example Blancpain series and VLN irrelevant series... If those are already irrelevant to you, there’s not so much left to be relevant to your standards I guess.