Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRed Bull Racing

Red Bull will not drop Kvyat - Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says Daniil Kvyat's contract will definitely be extended in to next year.

Kvyat has shown clear signs of improvement following a difficult start to life at Red Bull, currently sitting four points ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in the drivers' championship. Following another impressive race in which Kvyat led home Ricciardo in Mexico, Horner was asked if both drivers are under contract for 2016 and he says Red Bull will take up an option on the Russian.

“Both drivers are under contract," Horner said. "Ricciardo’s contract is fixed and obviously all the options are on our side with Daniil’s but he’s doing a great job and as long as we’re here, he’ll be in the car next year.

"There is nothing to announce as he is under contract. He’s in the car next year 100%, if there is a car here.”

And Horner believes Kvyat delivered his best race so far for Red Bull in Mexico, even though he lost out on a podium to Valtteri Bottas late in the race after a safety car period.

"We knew we were going to be vulnerable on the re-start having backed the pack right up and we needed to have as good a re-start as we possible could. So putting the soft tyres on, Kvvat got a pretty decent re-start, as did Ricciardo. At one point I thought we were going to have a go at Hamilton on the run down to Turn 1 and it very quickly became apparent that was not going to be the case and it was a free pass for Bottas.

"It’s a great shame because prior to that, the advantage they had in sector 1 we were able to negate in sector 2 and 3 and Daniil Kvyat I think I had the best race of his year to be honest with you. He was able to manage that gap and we were looking pretty solid for a podium.”

Mexican Grand Prix - Driver ratings

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.