Toro Rosso set to confirm Sainz, door open for Kvyat

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Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost expects Carlos Sainz's future with the team "will be confirmed soon" and hasn't ruled out Daniil Kvyat staying in 2017.

Sainz was overlooked for a Red Bull seat when Max Verstappen was promoted earlier this season, with Kvyat dropping back to Toro Rosso. Tost says the Spaniard is set to be retained in 2017 because he can still develop further at Toro Rosso even though there are currently no vacancies at Red Bull.

"I always am talking about a three-year programme," Tost told reporters at the FIA Sport Conference in Turin. "I don’t see any problem there because it depends always what’s going on at Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Racing for next season is full with Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

"It looks like and I personally hope that this is the case that Carlos Sainz will stay with Toro Rosso. I think this will be confirmed soon. It’s also a good possibility for Carlos to show his talent and I hope that our car next year is very competitive that he will not find any disadvantages compared to another team."

And while Tost admits it is unlikely Kvyat will remain part of the Red Bull set-up, he personally would like to keep the current driver line-up.

Asked if Kvyat provides a good link thanks to his Red Bull experience or if Toro Rosso needs a new young driver in the team, Tost replied: "No we will see.

"The driver line-up at Toro Rosso for next year is not 100% decided yet. I expect Carlos will stay with us. Personally I would hope that also Daniil Kvyat will stay with us because he is a really good driver, but he has to feel well. Then we will see what the future holds."

On the potential for Pierre Gasly to be promoted in 2017, Tost replied: "Could be.

"At the end it is a decision from Red Bull Racing to bring in a driver which shows the best possible performance for the team and for Red Bull."

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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.