I'm a little surprised that they chose Kvyat so immediately. I thought they might at least shop around for a more experienced driver. After all they seriously considered Kimi last year. I guess Ricciardo's success has given them a lot of faith in their program.
Kvyat isn't even that good. What has he done this year? He's been slower than JEV all year who's been kicked out for a kid. They've really messed up. But I can guarantee one thing. Everyone will say Vettel should be shot for leaving Red Bull while forgetting Hamilton did the same to Mclaren. #trolltrolltroll
Spanish journalist Antonio Lobato just said Mercedes tried to swap Hamilton and Alonso, Ferrari rejected it.
Ricciardo must have out qualified him 16-3 or something. Vergne's race pace is just ridiculously good, and considering Vergne scored as much points in Singapore as Kvyat has in his whole f1 career then it shows something is wrong. Vergne this year has really went up in my books and I really hope he gets a seat somewhere which is respectable for next year.
And Ricciardo has had....what, 3 years in F1? (if you include his spell at the back too for HRT) compared to Kvyat's 14 races. Kvyat's "whole F1 career" isn't even 1 season, not exactly a fair comparison!, yet in that time he has still out qualified the (now) experienced Vergne and generally been similar in races over the season, bar Singapore. Vergne is a good driver but absolutely nothing special. Kvyat gas already shown IMO he has the potential to be. Though i agree it;s a year too early for him.
Jumping the gun as ever ........... Just don't forget the abuse anti-Hams dished out about his disloyalty to McLaren when he left for Mercedes.
What about Monza, where Kvyat completely destroyed Vergne in race trim and was unlucky not to get any points to show for it? That's ignoring the fact that JEV has three years' experience and was expected to beat Kvyat easily, and the fact that during his time in F1 he has not really improved his single biggest weakness, his qualifying. Wouldn't say I want him off the grid but completely understand why Red Bull have promoted Kvyat. As for the Big News today: unless they know something we don't, it looks from where I'm sitting that both Vettel and Alonso have done something stupid for ego points. Will be very interesting to see how it goes, of course, and it'll help Ferrari to have Vettel to rally around, if nothing else. Just wanted to point out a classic Bensonism on the BBC article: Current points - Button: 72 Magnussen: 39
Benson's mates with Jan Magnussen. God knows what he'll do next year when Alonso and Magnussen are team mates.
Alonso looked real happy in his interview with the BBC, and a little bit shifty. I can't see why he'd be that pleased about the McLaren-Honda drive, it's got disaster written all over it, they've only got one car to test with so they'll probably be breaking down left, right and centre next season. Not to mention McLaren's complete failure to build a decent chassis the last two years, and the fact he has to resume an acrimonious relationship with Ron Dennis. On top of that his negotiating position has been severely weakened by Vettel taking his seat. I wonder if Mercedes is an option for him...
I don't buy this at all. They took months deciding on Webber's replacement, and it was a much easier decision given who was available. Then they've made the decision to promote Kvyat (despite Alonso being on the market) in a couple of hours. They must've known about this for a while.
No way would that lineup work, 2 fragile ego's under the same roof, with Ron Dennis as principle. At least it'll be fun to watch. Besides, Vettel to Ferrari is pretty much a dead cert
@pitlanetalk: With Kvyat replacing Vettel, it stays as we said: Fernando Alonso goes to McLaren and the BBC also say he already signed a deal. #F1 @pitlanetalk: Pretty sure now that Fernando Alonso replaces Jenson Button at McLaren. Kevin Magnussen to continue for another year. #F1 #Formula1 @pitlanetalk: Jenson Button will be left without a drive and it's likely his final year in Formula 1. #F1 #Formula1