Three-podium driver adamant he could have been F1 world champion with more help from Red Bull

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Red Bull are one of the most successful teams on the Formula 1 grid. In less than two decades, they’ve won seven drivers’ titles and six constructors’ championships.

That ranks them fifth behind Ferrari (31 combined titles), McLaren (20), Mercedes (17) and Williams (16). But with the exception of Mercedes, all of those teams have competed in more than 800 Grands Prix.

Red Bull are unique in that their seven titles are split between two drivers. Sebastian Vettel was responsible for the first four between 2010 and 2013, while Max Verstappen has won the last three.

Verstappen is likely to make it four in a row this year as he enters the final six races with a 52-point cushion over Lando Norris. But as it stands, it will be the second time in four seasons that they’ve lost out on the constructors’, with McLaren now 41 ahead.

Many will attribute to this to the poor form of Sergio Perez, though some would counter that even Verstappen has struggled with the handling of the RB20 of late. Perez has won five Grands Prix with Red Bull but suffered alongside an elite teammate, even more so than Mark Webber during Vettel’s heyday.

Webber won nine races during his career, one more than compatriot Daniel Ricciardo, another of the big names who have raced for Red Bull. Ricciardo will feel he peaked at the wrong time relative to Red Bull’s competitiveness.

Daniil Kvyat says he could have won a title with Max Verstappen’s timing

Vettel left for Ferrari at the end of 2014, having been comfortably beaten by Ricciardo in their only year as teammates. Christian Horner promoted Daniil Kvyat from Toro Rosso as his replacement.

It was a daunting task, but Kvyat commendably managed to outscore Ricciardo in 2015. While the margins were extremely close – 95 points to 92 – it was still unexpected.

The Russian had bagged his first F1 podium that year and added another at the Chinese GP in early 2016, but a crash at the start of his home race in Sochi proved costly. Kvyat took Vettel out of the race, earning himself a severe 10-second stop-go penalty.

That was all Horner and co. needed to see to parachute young sensation Verstappen into the car for the next race in Spain, demoting Kvyat to Toro Rosso. Speaking to formule1.nl, he argued that he was good enough to be world champion if Red Bull had given him a better car.

“I will always look at it knowing that I did not get the maximum out of it,” he said of his F1 career. “I had the potential to at least fight for the championship as a driver.

“To win you have to do a lot of things well, but what I am trying to say is that you also have to have a number of circumstances on your side. And that was not always given to me.

“I know what I am worth as a driver and in a championship-worthy car I would definitely have been a contender for the championship. I don’t like to use big words and say that I would have won easily, because the competition in Formula 1 is fierce and has always been that way.

“Looking back, I got my chance at Red Bull when the car was not great, to say the least. And of course Max, but earlier also Sebastian Vettel, had his chance at Red Bull when the car was very strong.”

Damon Hill criticises Red Bull’s handling of Daniel Ricciardo exit

Kvyat’s F1 career continued after Red Bull’s ruthless decision. He remained with Toro Rosso until the end of 2017, and then returned for the 2019 and 2020 campaigns, adding a third and final career podium.

He saw Pierre Gasly demoted in similar fashion, with Alex Albon stepping up, and following his retirement, Nyck de Vries met the same fate. Ricciardo has now joined the list of mid-season casualties.

The team have come under fire for the manner of the Australian’s exit. Ricciardo’s camp were upset with Red Bull over the lack of clarity in Singapore.

Damon Hill feels Horner owed Ricciardo a more dignified farewell. Neither he nor any team members were able to confirm his fate before a statement was issued the following Thursday.