Helmut Marko insists Daniil Kvyat is in no danger of being replaced within the Scuderia Toro Rosso team this season despite rumours that Pierre Gasly was to replace the Russian, perhaps as soon as the Singapore Grand Prix.
Gasly was apparently informed by a Renault representative during the Italian Grand Prix weekend that he would be driving in Singapore in place of the struggling Kvyat, which he announced on Spanish TV, but Marko has dismissed this as false.
“Kvyat will definitely be in the Toro Rosso in Singapore,” said Marko. “Also for the rest of the season.
“I have to check on this story. I just heard it here for the first time. I cannot imagine that Gasly is so stupid to make these comments.”
Gasly responded to the confusion by tweeting that he was only eager to get his opportunity to race in Formula 1 sooner rather than later, and had not said that he would replace Kvyat.
Marko has also said it would be unfair to take a decision on who would be Carlos Sainz Jr’s team-mate at Toro Rosso in 2017 while Kvyat is going through a spell of bad luck and results and has only scored two points since he was demoted back to Toro Rosso from Red Bull Racing after the Russian Grand Prix.
“At the moment he has so much bad luck, on technical, that it would not be fair to judge it at the moment,” said Marko.
