Helmut Marko has addressed rumours that have Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly replacing the under-pressure Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso from the Singapore Grand Prix, calling these “absolute rubbish”.
Since his demotion from Red Bull Racing, the Russian has struggled to re-discover the sort of form that made him a GP3 Series title winner and Formula One podium finisher.
There has been speculation at the Italian Grand Prix that Gasly, who leads this year’s GP2 Series while also acting as Red Bull’s reserve driver, would receive an early promotion.
“It’s absolute rubbish”, Marko told Sky Sports F1 in response. “Kvyat will have his chance to recover and we won’t make any decisions before mid-October as to who will have the seat in Toro Rosso next year.”
When informed that Gasly himself would have apparently confirmed the news to Spanish TV, the long-time Red Bull motorsport advisor added: “It's news to me but believe me I'll be on the phone with him immediately.”
Meanwhile, Kvyat had another frustrating afternoon at Monza, with the 22-year-old picking up some damage to his floor in the first chicane melee before being handed a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Toro Rosso eventually decided to retire his car.
Asked about the rumours of his receiving the axe after the race, Kvyat replied: “I don’t give a… well you know what I mean. I don’t really care about these rumours, whatever. I am just doing my job at the moment and whatever they will decide, they will decide.”
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