Paris: France’s Pierre Gasly will make his Formula One debut in Malaysia this weekend, the 21-year-old called up by Toro Rosso on Tuesday to replace struggling Daniil Kyvat.
Kyvat has lost his seat with Red Bull’s sister team after the Russian managed only four points compared to fellow Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz’s tally of 48.
“Scuderia Toro Rosso was established by Red Bull to bring youngsters from its Junior Programme into Formula 1 and that’s what we are doing by giving Pierre this chance,” said team principal Franz Tost.
“He is the next in line at Red Bull for this opportunity and he has shown that he deserves it, having taken the 2016 GP2 title and this year being very competitive in the Super Formula series in Japan.
“He really has a valid chance of winning the title, as he is only half a point behind the leader.”
Tost said Kyvat had paid the price for his poor season.
“For a variety of reasons, some of them due to technical problems, but others being mistakes of his own making, Daniil Kvyat has not really shown his true potential so far this year, which is why we are standing him down for the next races.
“This will give us the opportunity to evaluate Pierre on track during a proper race weekend.”
The 21-year-old Gasly gets his chance in the fast lane after acting as Red Bull’s reserve driver this season. He said: “This is a great opportunity for me. I feel as ready as I can be, having had to be prepared for anything in my role as Red Bull Racing’s third driver this year.
“I will do my best to perform well with Scuderia Toro Rosso during these coming races.”
In a statement Toro Rosso was at pains to make clear that this was not necessarily the end of the road for Kyvat.
“This is not a case of goodbye for our Daniil, as he still remains part of the Red Bull Family.”
