Razia: Da Costa more deserving than Kvyat

Red Bull surprised by announcing the replacement of Daniel Ricciardo in Toro Rosso by Daniil Kvyat. If the Russian has made a meteoric rise within the Red Bull Junior Team, his experience remains limited since he competed last year in the GP3 Series (where he also won the title). On the other hand, Antonio Félix da Costa showed a very promising future but his last season in Formula Renault 3.5 Series was rather disappointing while the Portuguese seemed able to challenge for the title.

Luiz Razia, who signed with Marussia last year F1 Team before seeing his contract lapse for financial reasons, supports the new BMW recruit in DTM. “I play devil’s advocate because I am a friend of Antonio and I think he had better potential,” commented the Brazilian on TotalRace. “But we know that it’s not about that. It is certain that F1 needs a Russian with a race in Russia. It's a discipline with a lot of politics and he (Daniil Kvyat) is backed by a Russian bank. Toro Rosso has difficulties, like everyone, and this situation suited them perfectly. »

If Antonio Félix da Costa's season may have seemed disappointing compared to that of Daniil Kvyat in the eyes of Dr Helmut Marko in charge of the Red Bull Junior Team, Luiz Razia does not agree. “Kimi Räikkönen came directly from Formula Renault while other drivers come directly from F3. I'm not surprised by the fact that he (Daniil Kvyat) comes from F3 because drivers can demonstrate their talent in many disciplines. Antonio Félix da Costa won (nearly) a third of the races he competed in in the World Series (by Renault). The Arden team is competitive but he encountered some problems with it and he still managed to finish the Championship in third place. »