Usually in Formula 1, news about the transition of pilots from one team to another rattles at the end of the season or after the final Grand Prix. In the midst of the championship, rearrangements are extremely rare, but still possible if we are talking about teams very close to each other.

On Monday, August 12, speakers at the expense of one title sponsor Red Bull and Toro Rosso made an exchange. Pierre Gasley left the main team, and he was not replaced by Daniil Quat, as one might assume, but his partner Alexander Albon. The new teams will play, starting with the Belgian Grand Prix, which will be held on September 1.

“Red Bull is in a unique position: we have four talented Formula 1 pilots with whom we have signed contracts and who can be rotated between the team and Toro Rosso. The team will evaluate Alex’s performance following the results of the nine upcoming races in order to make an informed decision about who will be Max’s partner in 2020, ”commented on the red Bull shift.

Bring it on! 💪 @alex_albon to join Max from the #BelgianGP 👉 https://t.co/TLaNqHHChJ#givesyouwingspic.twitter.com/6RcMhslmHt

- Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) August 12, 2019

“Everyone in the team is looking forward to meeting with Alex and the opportunity to support him during the new phase of his career in Formula 1,” the Red Bull press service added.

There are several points in this castling that require more careful consideration. For Gasley herself, she must have been a shock. A month and a half ago, Red Bull motor racing adviser Helmut Marko assured reporters that the Frenchman would remain the pilot of the Austrian stables until the end of the season and could be calm about his place.

Events since then have shown that it is really too early for a 23-year-old pilot to represent such a serious team, to which he joined in 2019. Hasley never hit the podium, although his car is one of the fastest in the peloton. The best result of the rider was fourth in the UK, followed by an unsuccessful performance in Germany. Probably the last straw for Red Bull was Pierre’s sixth position following the Hungarian stage and lagging behind Verstappen, although even after that team leader Christian Horner said that changes were planned before the end of the season.

The success of the Dutchman also played a big role in the rearrangement that happened, because against his background, Gasley looked especially bad. Verstappen scored two wins this season, has never dropped below fifth place and brought the team three extra points for fastest laps. Thanks to him, Red Bull is still struggling with Ferrari, which has no victories yet, for the second place in the Cup of designers, but cannot make a decisive breakthrough precisely because of the slowing down team of the second pilot.

A new look line up for Spa 🇧🇪 @ Max33 Verstappen and @alex_albon to take on Belgium together 👊 # givesyouwingspic.twitter.com / 7rCHI09xVE

- Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) August 12, 2019

And as soon as the decision to remove Hasley was made, Daniil Quat was quite logical in his place. Firstly, he does not take experience, including speaking for the main team. Secondly, he recently appeared on the podium of the German Grand Prix, keeping his cool in difficult conditions. Thirdly, the Russian simply performs better than Albona - the Ufa native scored more points, often finished in a higher position, and only the qualification score between them is equal.

You can see how much it means to everyone, our first podium since Monza 2008 ... How sweet it is! 🏆

Couldn't have thrown @kvyatofficial higher if they tried 😅 # GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/14dBEbqbc7

- Toro Rosso (@ToroRosso) July 28, 2019

Nevertheless, the place in Red Bull, which many Formula 1 pilots dream of, went to the representative of Thailand. His path to the place in the team of the Big Three turned out to be very short. A year ago, he played in Formula 2 and was not even a favorite in it, eventually taking third place behind George Russell and Lando Norris, who also moved to the Royal Race.

12 races in Toro Rosso were enough for promotion, in which he earned 16 points. For comparison, Kvyat needed 19 races, Verstappen was the pilot of the Italian stable 23 times, Gasli was waiting for an increase during the 26 Grand Prix, and Daniel Riccardo, who had already left the Red Bull system, spent 39 races for his daughter team. However, if we take into account the average number of points scored per race, then Albon is second only to Verstappen in this indicator.

The rather successful debut in Formula 1 does not negate the fact that the Thai pilot has not gained enough experience to fight for the podium and has not tried at least once all the Grand Prix at the Toro Rosso. In Red Bull, he will still face a very difficult task to fight on equal terms with Verstappen and gain points for the team. However, if the Austrian team is no longer cunning and really just want to believe Albon in business, then he can cope with the task of "not harming".

Although the 25-year-old Kvyat right now, after disappointment in Gasley, had excellent chances to be in Red Bull for the second time, for him everything has not been lost. Verification of Albon can equally be both successful and not very good. In the second case, the management of the concern will have no choice but to sign the Russian rider for 2020, unless there is a completely unexpected option in the form of a well-proven pilot from another team.

So far, you should not worry about Kvyat - his fate will be decided at the end of the year, and he is doing everything possible to make his career go uphill. In “Formula 1”, the winner is not the one who leads in the middle of the race, but the one who is ahead of everyone at the finish. This statement is also true for the struggle for the most profitable contracts and the ability to drive the best machines.