Ex-F1 star claims Red Bull ‘stabbed him in the back’ for Verstappen

Former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat has claimed Red Bull bosses “stabbed him in the back” to side with Max Verstappen. The Russian was replaced by the young protege at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix with the Dutchman going on to win on his debut.

Meanwhile, Kvyat was demoted to Toro Rosso just two races after clinching a podium at the Chinese Grand Prix. He remained a member of the junior team until 2020 before he was eventually replaced by Yuki Tsunoda at the end of the season.

However, the 28-year-old still feels hard done by and admits he is still “very unhappy” with how his Red Bull exit came about. He told the Track Limits podcast: “I felt really betrayed at that moment.

“It was a stab in the back and that’s life, you get stabbed in the back sometimes you know, it’s normal. Now it’s the past. I have another good career in racing so part of me of course is very thankful to Red Bull. The other part of me is still very unhappy with it.”

In a stunning revelation, Kvyat has also revealed he could have joined Ferrari to replace Kimi Raikkonen but opted to stay with Red Bull. The Finn ended up staying at the Italian manufacturer for another two seasons, finally leaving for Alfa Romeo to make way for Charles Leclerc in 2019.

However, Kvyat clearly has connections at the iconic marque as he joined the team in 2018. But, he was not able to secure a race seat and took the team’s third driver role focusing on simulator work and test drives.

Yet Kvyat feels his career could have turned out differently had he taken the Scuderia’s offer earlier on.

He explained: “I was performing really well. And I just scored another podium for the team [at the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix] and then at the time I had also a proposal to race for Ferrari to replace Kimi. That was going on behind the curtain.

“So it was a very difficult situation also for me mentally to go back from being wanted by Ferrari and having seen the contract and then you go back to Toro Rosso suddenly and then you’re like, it’s not going very well suddenly.”