Ex-F1 driver Daniil Kvyat claims Helmut Marko asked him to beat Daniel Ricciardo ‘every race’ in 2016 to not get dropped by Red Bull

Daniil Kvyat has opened up about the situation he was in during the 2016 F1 season at Red Bull.

Ex-F1 driver Daniil Kvyat claims Helmut Marko asked him to beat Daniel Ricciardo ‘every race’ in 2016 to not get dropped by Red Bull

Helmut Marko, Daniil Kvyat, and, Daniel Ricciardo (Via: Imago)

Daniil Kvyat, the former Red Bull driver, has opened up about the tricky situation he was in at Red Bull during the 2016 F1 season. He has made it known that he was put under immense pressure by Helmut Marko and Co.

Daniil Kvyat was promoted to Red Bull in 2015 in place of Sebastian Vettel who moved on to Ferrari. However, since joining the team, Kvyatt faced several issues competing against Daniel Ricciardo and was thus, moved back to Toro Rosso (AlphaTauri) after the 2016 Russian Grand Prix.

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While Max Verstappen took his place, Kvyat has recently talked about the whole fiasco and added, as reported by F1:

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Helmut was like, 'We need you to beat Daniel consistently every race, more or less. I was like, ‘OK, let’s see, he’s not an idiot, but I’ll do my best like he will’. The first few races were tricky but there were clear improvements, like in China, then there was Sochi and obviously they needed this, so that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Looking at the reaction of the Russian driver, it is quite clear that he was put in an incredibly tough position in 2016. Moreover, has indicated that his Sochi exploits gave Red Bull the perfect reason to drop him from the team.

Red Bull has always been ruthless with its drivers

While Daniil Kvyat has talked about how Red Bull treated him during his tenure with them, he is not the only driver whom the Austrian outfit has treated harshly. After Kvyat, the lights of Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon also had to endure the same fate.

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Helmut Marko, Max Verstappen and Christian Horner (via IMAGO)

The duo was brutally sacked by Red Bull and when it comes to their current driver pairing, there have been quite a few occasions where Sergio Perez has felt betrayed by the behavior of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.

The Milton-Keynes-based team has a well-known reputation for being ruthless with its pool of drivers. Moreover, the way things are going, the above-mentioned behavior will continue for many years in all likelihood.

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