Hotshot Verstappen replaces Kvyat at Red Bull

LONDON: Red Bull replaced Daniil Kvyat with Dutch Formula One hotshot Max Verstappen for the remainder of the season on Thursday in a shake-up that punished the Russian for a nightmare home grand prix last weekend.

Kvyat will return to the Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso team that he started out with in 2014, while 18-year-old Verstappen moves up to the former world champions alongside Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

The next race, fifth of the 21 round championship, is the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on May 15.

“Max has proven to be an outstanding young talent. His performance at Toro Rosso has been impressive so far and we are pleased to give him the opportunity to drive for Red Bull Racing,” said team principal Christian Horner.

“We are in a unique position to have all four drivers across Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso under long term contracts with Red Bull, so we have the flexibility to move them between the two teams,” he added.