Officials hint Kvyat staying at Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat stands a chance of keeping his Toro Rosso seat beyond 2017.

That is the claim of Red Bull officials Dr Helmut Marko and Christian Horner, as the young Russian recovers from his tumultuous career dip of last year.

"He is driving well now," Marko, the head of the energy drink company’s driver programme, told Russia’s Sportbox.

Mid last season, Kvyat was dropped from the senior team to make room for Max Verstappen, and the 23-year-old subsequently struggled to get back up to speed at Toro Rosso.

But Marko now says: "I don’t see any reason why he would leave the team. He has his confidence back.

"In the near future Kvyat does not have a chance to return to Red Bull because we have two drivers whose contracts expire after 2018," he added.

"But the decision on whether he will remain at Toro Rosso will be taken at the beginning of the summer."

Horner, the Red Bull team boss, agreed: "Daniil is doing a good job now and his confidence is growing.

"The only reason that we kept him in the programme is because we believe in his ability. Red Bull has its two drivers for this and next season, but after that everything is possible," Horner added.