Horner: Painful demotion in 2016 took its toll on Kvyat

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner believes that Daniil Kvyat's painful demotion from the senior bull outfit in 2016 had a lasting effect on the Russian's mindset.

After emerging as a bright young talent within Red Bull's young driver programme and graduating from Toro Rosso to Red Bull Racing, Kvyat was sent back to the Faenza squad after just four races in 2016 to make way for Max Verstappen's promotion to the senior outfit.

While he continued to show flashes of speed alongside Carlos Sainz at Toro Rosso, Kvyat's performance was marked by a lack of consistency and an increasing number of on-track contacts that eventually led to him being dropped altogether by Red Bull after last year's US Grand Prix.

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The 24-year-old has been given a second chance however - or rather a third - by his former employer who will slot him into Pierre Gasly's seat at Toro Rosso in 2019.

"It's a good thing for Dany," said Horner, speaking to Sky F1.

"I spent some time with him over the summer. He’s in a good space, and I think he's had time to go away from Formula 1, from the limelight of Formula 1 and reflect.

"It was a big thing for him in 2016 when he got effectively dropped from the senior team to the junior team, and I don't think he ever got his head fully around that.

“I think actually a bit of time away, a bit of reflection… he's got the speed. He's won championships for us in GP3. 2015, he had some very good races.

"I think he deserves a second chance, and it'll be interesting to see what he can do."

Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko, the man who make or break a young driver's career, or revive one in the case of Kvyat, believes a year on the sidelines and doing simulator work for Ferrari has changed the Russian, for the better.

"Daniil changed, he is a far more mature personality," Marko said last weekend in Sochi.

"He was working with a different team, so he saw the whole atmosphere and working programme, and he also found out how difficult it is to get a Formula 1 seat.

"We will give him a third chance because we always believed he's very fast. But his mental problems, I think he has solved.

"He is a far more mature driver, and I'm sure we will see some very positive races from him."

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