Pierre Gasly, Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, Suzuka, 2019

Team mate battles 2019: The final score – Kvyat vs Gasly

2019 F1 season review

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Three years ago Daniil Kvyat was demoted from Red Bull to Toro Rosso. This year the same happened to Pierre Gasly, and he found himself alongside Kvyat.

Kvyat had longer to get reacquainted with the Toro Rosso in 2016, but never really managed to, taking a beating from Carlos Sainz Jnr as he did. It was different for Gasly, who despite having fewer races to get used to the Toro Rosso again, soon showed signs of his 2018 form which persuaded Red Bull to give him a chance in the first place.

Despite Kvyat’s greater familiarity with the car, Gasly established a clear superiority in qualifying, out-pacing his team mate by two-tenths of a second on average. That counted for a lot in F1’s congested midfield, notably in Brazil, where Kvyat fell in the first round but Gasly qualified seventh.

That put him on course for Toro Rosso’s best result of the season, a retirement-aided but nonetheless fully-merited second place. That accounted for more than half of the 32 points he picked up at Toro Rosso, only five less than Kvyat managed over the whole season, even with his similarly fortuitous podium in Germany.

While Sochi was a wasted weekend for Kvyat due to persistent reliability problems, Gasly had the misfortune to be clumsily taken out on the first lap by at Yas Marina by Lance Stroll.

Kvyat didn’t help himself with a pair of late-race incident in consecutive races at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and the Circuit of the Americas. Both of which copped penalties which, despite Kvyat’s protestations, were deserved, and cost him points.

Gasly’s late-season resurgence wasn’t enough to earn him an immediate return to Red Bull. But if he continue to show Kvyat the way, he may yet persuade the top team to give him a second chance.

Daniil Kvyat vs Pierre Gasly: Key stats

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Daniil Kvyat vs Pierre Gasly: Who finished ahead at each round

BEL ITA SIN RUS JAP MEX UNI BRA ABU
Pierre Gasly Q
R
Daniil Kvyat Q
R

Daniil Kvyat vs Pierre Gasly: Qualifying gap

Times based on the last qualifying round at each race weekend in which both drivers set a time. Negative indicates Daniil Kvyat was faster, positive means Pierre Gasly was faster

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Josh Holland
USA-based Josh joined the RaceFans team in 2018. Josh helps produce our Formula 1 race weekend coverage, assists with our social media activities and...
Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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14 comments on “Team mate battles 2019: The final score – Kvyat vs Gasly”

  1. I knew Gasly did well upon his return, but to see it quantified this way is incredible. Even if we assume he scored nothing in Brazil, all his measures still have him ahead of Kvyat.

    That said, it was pointed out in another comment yesterday, that if Max heads off to a different team, Red Bull are in the unenviable position that of the remaining three drivers in their stable, none of them have yet shown themselves at a level to be #1 in RBR. (Cue the Alonso brigade 😉)

    1. If RBR stumble out of the blocks in 2020 I believe they’ll face some tough questions. Honda will he questioning their involvement into 2021, Verstappen will be questioning his seat, and as mentioned there’s a vacuum of talent behind him. None of the current stable seem able to take on the mantel of team leader at RBR. Even in the lower classes there’s none that really stand out.

      Personally, I think they should’ve vacated Kyvat’s seat and opened it up to a younger driver already. They seem to have thrown all their eggs in the Max basket, and I can only hope that we don’t lose two teams due to that.

    2. Rbr had a chance at Alonso at least twice, and didnt take him. My impression based on numerous instances of Horner talking about said recruitment is that it was never and never will be a possibility.

      Id love to see Max go to Merc and see Helmut explain why their current talent pool is meagre without getting egg left on his face

      1. Alonso himself may not be interested in red bull for 2020. It is yet another project and in that car he won’t be a championship contender. To have that chance you need to be in ferrari or preferrably in the mercedes and neither of those will not happen.

  2. What a difference it made for Gasly changing chassis. From hero at Toro Rosso to zero at RedBull to hero again at Toro Rosso.

    Call it pressure, inexperience, different car set up, I guess he just didn’t want to crash anymore and ended up being too cautious at RBR. Hence the lack of overtakes.

    He faced what Vettel faced. But reacted differently. Over performed by teammate, Vettel pushed his own limits and spun/crashed. Gasly opted to play on the safe side, in my opinion, when in RBR.

    I guess is best to be the alpha driver at Alpha Tauri then be the beta somewhere else.

  3. ”But if he continue to show Kvyat the way, he may yet persuade the top team to give him a second chance.”
    – But that alone wouldn’t be enough for Gasly, though. Getting back to the senior team would also require Albon to under-perform to at least the same extent as he did over his twelve race-stint there for that to happen. The same also applies to Kvyat.

    1. @jerejj You’re on the money here. I think it’s going to be awkward come 2021 if Max leaves. That seems to be the only way Gasly gets the promotion a second time. Even then, I would be inclined to think that they would be considering Alonso in those circumstances (and that Alonso has been a no because they wouldn’t want to deal with the double ego combo of Alonso and Max, though Honda could still veto this). Their junior drivers are still very junior. The immediately available talent just isn’t that great. I’m not sure they could lure any of the big names other than perhaps Vettel and he does appear to beyond his best. Maybe a 2021 car would suit Gasly better and allow him to shine and RBR are prepared to take a punt on that. Silly season 2021 IS going to be fantastic!

      1. @antznz By the beginning of the 2021 season, there would probably be a driver eligible for a super license in the program, though — namely, Juri Vips. Gasly and Kvyat are only safe until there is at least one qualified for SL to put in STR/Alpha Tauri. I, again, highly doubt they’d go for Alonso essentially because of the tradition of only bring drivers from the B-team, not from the outside, and secondly because of Alonso will have been two-full seasons away from racing in F1 by then.

        1. @jerejj yes I’m quite sure kvyat is a placeholder till anyone else has super license points. Anyone that did still would be going into the junior team which doesn’t solve RBR team lineup. I think that Albon/Gasly lineup (on current form) is just a little too underwhelming for the RBR parent team. I would struggle to see them running that combo if Max left. Again purely speculative and reliant on Max leaving.

  4. In the first half of the year I’d say Gasly one was of the worst and most underperforming drivers on the grid but in the second half he was one of the best and really outperformed his machinery. I was really impressed by Kvyat in the first half of the year too so seeing Gasly come back and match, and then beat him was really good form. Gasly certainly coped with the ‘demotion’ better than Kvyat did.

    Red Bull are onto a good thing with them two though, Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri have the potential to be quite formidable next year. I think Gasly’s chances of getting back in the Red Bull are slim though, and pretty much only a certainty if Albon makes some catastrophic errors next year or Verstappen leaves. The idea of an Albon-Gasly lineup would have been a terrible idea at the start of the year, but now I think it’d be a pretty strong one.

  5. Can we get gasly vs albon both at red bull and toro rosso?

  6. I bet Kvyat beats Gasly next season. Last few races the pressure to impress Marko was on.. Because Marko said in interviews Kvyat was in contention for the Red Bull seat.. and he did some Torpedo Moves to Impress Marko.. Because we all know Helm likes overtaking..

  7. Cristiano Ferreira
    11th December 2019, 4:27

    I think Kvyat is closer to being fired from Toro Rosso / Alpha Tauri again than Gasly to grab the Red Bull seat again. I mean, the main problem with Kvyat is his age because he is quite old for a team that is well known for being a type of kindergarten to drivers. Also everyone already knows what they can expect from Kvyat, while Gasly is full of question marks.

    Its sad, but I think 2020 may be Kvyat last chance to impress Toro Rosso / Red Bull and other teams, or else he will be the next Hulkenberg.

Comments are closed.