Amid Daniel Ricciardo saga, a look at 3 F1 drivers Red Bull replaced midseason

Red Bull is no stranger to shifting drivers around their teams on short notice and even removing them if they fail to perform. Currently, paddock rumors about Daniel Ricciardo soon leaving Visa CashApp RB mid-season after the Singapore GP are swirling. If he does go, Ricciardo will not be the only driver who the Austrian giants replaced mid-season.

Here are three drivers who were most recently demoted to RB (formerly known as AlphaTauri) or removed from Red Bull's roster.

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Three Red Bull drivers who were recently demoted or removed from team's roster mid-season

#1 Daniil Kvyat (2016)

Daniil Kvyat was the Red Bull driver replaced by the team midseason in 2016. Even though the Russian had collected more points than his then-teammate Daniel Ricciardo in 2015, the Austrian team did not deem him worthy of the seat in their main team.

Meanwhile, Red Bull's other protege, Max Verstappen, was quickly moving up through the ranks and had cemented himself as one of the most talented youngsters in F1 after he joined Toro Rosso (currently RB) in 2015.

In 2016, the Austrian outfit decided to demote Kvyat to Toro Rosso and promote Verstappen to their main team, just four races into the 2016 season. Kvyat raced last at the Russian GP before he was replaced. The team's decision to make the change proved fruitful when Verstappen won his career's first race with the team in Spain.

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#2 Pierre Gasly (2019)

Pierre Gasly was another driver who was replaced midseason by the Austrian giants. He had one of the shortest runs in their main team since he was demoted to Toro Rosso the same year he was promoted.

Gasly replaced Daniel Ricciardo in the Austrian team in 2019 as the "Honey Badger" was moving to Renault. The Frenchman was promoted from Toro Rosso, as he was one of Red Bull's junior drivers. That season, however, Gasly struggled quite a bit and was unable to fight for podiums, as his teammate Max Verstappen was doing.

Hence, he was quickly demoted back to Toro Rosso the same year and was replaced with another Red Bull protege, Alex Albon. Gasly went on to bag his first P2 finish at the 2019 F1 Brazilian GP with Toro Rosso. Eventually, he left the stable completely, joining Alpine in 2023.

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#3 Nyck de Vries (2023)

Most recently, Nyck de Vries was removed by the defending world champions in 2023. Though he was removed from RB (then AlphaTauri), the team's roster decisions are known to be taken by the Austrian giants, particularly Helmut Marko.

At the start of 2023, de Vries finally received his long-awaited F1 seat in RB, alongside Yuki Tsunoda. However, pressure loomed over him from all sides during his rookie season as Daniel Ricciardo left McLaren, joined Red Bull as a reserve driver, and was eyeing de Vries's seat if the Dutchman failed to perform.

During the 2023 season, de Vries struggled in the sport and did not manage to score any points whatsoever. He retired from the Azerbaijan GP after crashing into the barriers. After the British GP, the Milton Keynes-based team announced that Nyck de Vries would be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo from the Hungarian GP.