Problem is LH has to push hard to make up the difference which is only going to stress his power units more and make further issues more likely. It's the same problem Rosberg had over the last 2 seasons - once you fall behind it's nigh-on impossible to gain ground without sufferring issues.

Mercedes' open letter to 'the fans' categorically denying favouring Rosberg is misleading. There's no such thing as luck, good or bad, just circumstance that people cannot explain adequately. That LH has had this run of issues suggests strongly there is something amis on his side of the garage. The chances of them happening by sheer chance are I imagine very small. There may not be any deliberate policy to favour Rosberg but it seems to be happening anyway. I'm not for one minute suggesting LH should feel hard-done-by, though. I'd suggest Mercedes favoured LH for the previous 2 seasons. It may be as simple as a small shift in the chassis design towards Rosberg's preference. Even a tiny change could have a huge imapct on the outcome of races. If LH is having to drive harded to get the maximum out of his car than Rosberg then inevitably he will be the one to suffer mechanical failures more often.

Can't believe Mercedes has had to write a letter to fans to tell them they are not sabotaging Lewis's car. If these morons are believing that then clearly reading a letter is gonna be a difficult task for them.

Kvyat has paid the price for his collisions at the Russian GP as he loses his seat to Verstappen.

Yip demoted to STR.

It's no surprise to.me. in fact I'm surprised they didn't start the season with him. without a doubt a future a world champion.

Is it a coincidence that the change comes just after the Russian Grand Prix by any chance (regardless of how well he performed in it)....

Surely RB are not keeping the options open by keeping Vettel sweet?

Seems a bt harsh...

Whilst Daniil Kvyat did mess up in Russian he had come 3rd the race before.

But then Verstappen is seen as the hot tip for the future and already impressed.

Nail

Head

They were looking for a reason and kvyat just gave them one. Pretty sure it was always gonna happen.

Can be tough the Red Bull driver program and it is pretty much a case of make it or be moved on. So know he's in STR to let Max Vest in to the top team I don't think it will be long before Kvyat is out of the Red Bull stable all together and they have a new young driver at STR.

Could be a lot at stake in this years GP2 championship.

I'd seen it before but the re-run on BBC4 last night on Scottish hill famer and racing driver Jim Clark's career was still worth ano look and the difference between F1 then and now is quite amazing.

His record of 33 poles and 25 wins from 75 starts in F1 all with Lotus is the best in terms of ratios. His two WDC wins in 1963 and 1965 understate his position as one of if not the greatest F1 driver ever and retirements due to car issues in 1962, 1964 and again in 1967 almost certainly cost him titles in those years and his untimely death another one in 1968 when team mate Graham Hill won the WDC.

He also raced in the Indy 500 five times winning once and coming second twice and three times at Le Mans and in the Tasman series for older F1 cars winning that title 3 times and he raced Lotus Cortinas.

I wonder if Kvyat knew, or suspected, he was being dropped before the GP last weekend? If Dr Marko had already decided to promote Verstappen but didn't want to drop Kvyat before the Russian GP for obvious reasons, its possible Kvyat got wind of the move and decided to be a bit reckless. The more I see the footage of the two collisions the more they look planned.

I personally think it's a desperate move by RB. If Ferrari want Verstappen I doubt there's anything RB will be able to do to stop him moving. Kvyat's days in F1 are numbered so that's a wasted seat at TR for the rest of the season. This is the same 'bad side' of RB that we saw last season with their dealings with Renault.

Got nothing to do with luck. It has Toto's mark all over it - fixed!

It makes sense for Merc if its fixed. I think having Nico as WDC will mean he will have a share of the success and there will be less bad blood. They need harmony next set of regs and from 2017 so its important for the team to be at one.

That said I want Merc to be beaten by at least 3 teams next set of regs. RB, Ferrari and McLaren. I think they have become to cocky and I cant stand Toto.

Only if Nico wins w/o Mercedes fixing. Personally I think he has a temper that inhibits his ability to drive well. I think a better pairing would be Vettel & Hamilton. Rosberg's problem is his temper and spoilt boy mentality and the fact that he is only there because of his father, doubt if he could have made it on his own - but hey, what do I know.

I'm looking forward to see how Max will perform against Daniel at Red Bull this weekend.

Thought Kvyat handled himself well in the drivers press conference , thought it was a bit cruel of red bull/ torro rosso to put him in the middle of Max and Carlos , he was pretty much bombarded for 45 minutes but handled it well

I doubt that he crashed deliberately, why would he do that and make himself look like an idiot in the process? I guess there is a chance for him at RB but only if he performs well for Toro Rosso and possibly Ricciardo leaves RB to head to Ferrari next year.


I felt really sorry for him. He did handle himself well but you could hear in his voice and see in his eyes that he was very emotional. I just don't understand why RB didn't just make this move in the summer, at least then Kvyat might have had a chance at finding a seat with another team, possibly Renault or Haas.

Don't get me wrong, I can understand why they have done this as they are eager to make sure that Max stays with them for a while but to come out with such nonsense as 'We're only doing this to take the pressure off Daniil!' is just stupid. If anything I'd say he is under even more pressure now as all eyes are definitely on him and he knows he has to beat Sainz and perform well for the rest of the season for him to possibly have a chance at getting back in the RB.

There's no chance for him in RB now. By the sounds of it RB had already decided they wanted to get Verstappen in the car ASAP but also wanted to expolit the Russian GP being earlier in the season. I guess they also wanted to see how the RB compared to the TR. No point moving him into a slower car. Vettel indicated the switch had been decided well before that weekend and it had nothing to do with the incident and his chat with Horner. I actually think Verstappen is going to prove to be over-rated.

I hope Kvyat does well in the TR and finds a drive for next season but it will be hard as other teams have developed a similar young driver system to RB these days (Ferrari - Haas, Mercedes - Manor).

I dont see Kvyat move to TR as a demotion, its a promotion for Verstappen. Its clear that Verstappen has shown plenty of promise last year and has done well this season as well. It was only a matter of time he got promoted to the RB. If RB didnt prompte him he would have left, and we would have said RB were stupid for not promoting him and have now lost him.

Both Verstappen and Kvyat are both very young, they have plenty of time to win championships. Kvyat needs to keep his head down keep performing, and I am sure a big team will come knocking. In a couple of years RB may well back at the top.

As for Merc fixing Rosbergs fans can just as easily say Merc have been fixing it for the last 2 years. All nonsense, if you ask me. Hamilton performed better over the last two years, so far this year Rosberg has performed better.

I agree with that. If Max didn't end up at Red Bull I think Mercedes or Ferrari would have snapped him up.

This is why I'd be hacked off if I were Kvyat. Had they done this at the end of the season then it is possible that Haas or Renault may have taken him on. Gutierrez has been rubbish so far so I guess there's a possibility that a Haas seat will become available, I think Renault will stick with K Mag and Palmer.

That being said if Ferrari do let Raikkonen go at the end of the season it is possible that they will make a move for Ricciardo, I don't think they'll go after Verstappen until he's a little bit older and to be honest I can't see a Vettel/Verstappen team working too well together. If, and it's a big if, Kvyat can gather himself and do a decent job at Toro Rosso there is still a chance for him at RB if a seat becomes available due to Ricciardo leaving.

Hamilton has had issue's in every race so we don't know if Rosberg has truly performed better thus far or has just been very good but has been beneficial.

For me max at RB makes this season more interesting because i can't wait to see how he does.