Kvyat on Verstappen move: 'Marko wanted to switch drivers'

When Max Verstappen started at Toro Rosso as a seventeen-year-oldrookie, Danill Kvyat was driving for Red Bull. The Russian finishedabove Daniel Ricciardo in the final standings in 2015, but wassidelined a year later after a series of incidents on track andlacklustre results. A demotion back to Toro Rosso would see himcompete in two more seasons for the outfit between 2019 and 2020,before he was dropped completely in favour of Yuki Tsunoda.Although the swift exit from Red Bull came to many as a shock,Kvyat secretly had a premonition before the 2016 season evenstarted. "There was something going on," Kvyat told F1.com . "Markowanted to change drivers. Helmut stated that I had to beatRicciardo pretty much every race. I responded with: 'okay, Danielis not an idiot, but I will do my best, just like him'. "The firstraces of 2016 were tough, but there was clear improvement. TheChinese Grand Prix is an example of that, but then came Sochi....They obviously needed this, so that's how it goes sometimes." Kvyatstruggled with motivation problems His forced exit from Red Bullknocked his confidence, as he became yet another driver in a longlist of names that have failed to capitalise while at one of thefastest teams on the F1 grid . "These were difficult times becausemy motivation was quite low when I returned to Toro Rosso. The carwas different and had a different philosophy," said Kvyat. "CarlosSainz was very hungry and had a good feeling with the car. Myconfidence and will were just gone. You can't do anything againstCarlos if you have such a mentality. "I occasionally drove decentraces, but it wasn't the best season. In 2017 things went a littlebetter, but still not quite to my liking. I think Red Bull and Igrew apart, so it was clear we needed a break. In 2018 the timecame and I became a reserve and test driver at Ferrari. That'swhere I felt good. I honestly needed to just eat, train and sleep."