Vitaly Petrov believes that his fellow countryman, Daniil Kvyat, cannot take his place in F1 at Toro Rosso for granted.
Vitaly Petrov warns complacent Daniil Kvyat over F1 seat
Petrov became the first Russian driver to race in F1, driving for Renault in 2010 and 2011 before switching to Caterham in 2012. Petrov lost his drive in Formula 1 for the 2013 Season and has since remained off the grid, handing over the Russian flag to Kvyat who joined the grid in 2014.
According to Red Bull chiefs, Kvyat stands a good chance of being retained by Toro Rosso for 2018 while Pierre Gasly wants the seat and Franz Tost has warned Kvyat of being too “emotional” at the start of races.
“As a F1 driver, no one is immune from the risk of being replaced at any moment,” Petrov told March TV. “So even if Christian Horner is saying they want to extend the contract, he [Kvyat] cannot be complacent. I remember driving for Renault and Nick Heidfeld was very strong, and yet the team changed during the season to Bruno Senna.”
“So I think Daniil needs to have a good rest now, reboot and get ready for the second part of the championship. If there are similar accidents as we saw in the first half, then everything can end badly for him,” he added.
In the first half of the 2017 Season, Kvyat has had an incredibly average year, finishing inside the points in only two of the first 11 races. This leaves the Russian with only four points going into the summer break while his team mate, Carlos Sainz Jr, has 35. Kvyat has also been involved in a number of first lap incidents this season, crashing into Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix and colliding with his team mate at Silverstone, causing him to be given the nickname of “The Torpedo”.
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