Missing Toro Rosso F1 chance “hurts” – Da Costa

2014 F1 season

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Antonio Felix da Costa says being passed over for an F1 drive in favour of Daniil Kvyat “hurts”.

Da Costa was widely tipped to take the seat at Toro Rosso left vacant by Daniel Ricciardo. However the team announced today it will be taken by fellow Red Bull junior programme driver Daniil Kvyat.

“It hurts but it’s like this,” Da Costa wrote on Twitter, “I’m happy for Daniil and that it stays in the Red Bull family.”

“And I love you all, all my supporters, fans and lovers, its been amazing to feel your support, its not over, thank you all.”

Da Costa shot to prominence with a highly successful 2012 campaign in which he finished third in GP3 and fourth in Formula Renault 3.5 – the latter despite missing the first five races of the season.

However he failed to build on that success this year, due in part to some car problems and misfortune, and ended his second year in the category third behind McLaren development drivers Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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45 comments on “Missing Toro Rosso F1 chance “hurts” – Da Costa”

  1. Sorry Antonio, but your race seat is in other team.

    1. I can’t see any other team right now for da Costa. He wasn’t impressive this season but the he drove the 3rd fatest behind DAMS and Fortec. The thing here is that everyone thought da Costa would drive for Toro Rosso and in the end some Russia kid (I’m not questioning the talent, only his experience) in GP3 win the race for the seat based on money (because last season da Costa was much more impressive). To think that even the Red Bull family look first for money than for skill it shows what f1 (and the other categories) are nowadays

      1. @orpheu – The decision to take Kvyat instead of da Costa does not prove that Red Bull chose money over talent.

        In 2007, McLaren were expected to put Pedro de la Rosa alongside Alonso. They took the untried rookie Hamilton instead. Did they choose money over talent?

        1. @prisoner-monkeys

          The decision to take Kvyat instead of da Costa does not prove that Red Bull chose money over talent.

          Seriously? Talent has nothing to do here. Big money & politics here, way bigger than RedBull team. That Sotchi thing (be it F1 or Olympics) is part of european-russian commercial & strategic agreements.

          1. .. not that europe has told RB to choose Kvyat but it’s more “Russia is interested and it has a LOT of money to pour in”.

          2. @spoutnik – Seriously. There is no evidence that Toro Rosso chose Kvyat to capitalise on the Russian Grand Prix. Correlation does not imply causation.

          3. @prisoner-monkeys maybe. It is just a surprising promotion. Good for him anyway :)

  2. Another driver “shot down” by Marko.

    1. And what, exactly, do you think Marko’s motive was?

      1. getting only the best of the best? Not allowing for glitches on the road. And having a Russian is a good marketing vehicle too, off course.

        The first part is a bit ruthless, but its a push for success. The second motivation would be a bit of a damper on promoting talent.

        1. If this was primarily a Red Bull marketing decision, I have my doubts that it was up to Marko!

    2. Pfff I just can’t believe it! That’s sad if he can’t get a drive.

      Kvyat is very good but lacks experience. Da Costa was even more stellar last year in GP3/FR3.5, but his main problem is that he didn’t won a championship for two years now.

      This year he still finished 3rd in the standings with too many problems on his car and with the mistake he’s done.

      Hope someone gives you wings Antonio!

  3. I think da Costa has been very disappointing this year. He’s clearly been trying too hard at times, and has over-driven the car as a result.

    1. His car also dind’t prove a match for Kevin’s DAMS and Vandoorne’s Fortec.

      1. Indeed. He did not win the title but he was brilliant in some races but not so good at others. Bad luck and a not well tuned car at some events did not help his cause but it’s quite clear that Toro Rosso’s decision has more to do than talent alone… howver, good luck Danill.

        I guess I’ll have to wait a bit more to see the Portuguese flag back to F1…

      2. @toiago And I ask again, where’s the proof?

  4. Da Costa is a real rising star. He will shine soon once Vergne gets booted out in 2015. If not him, then Carlos Sainz, Jr.

    1. He think he will get another chance and what @d3vo said will probably happen.

    2. Well, if Daniil will shine in 2014 in comparison with Jean-Eric, then it’s possible for a mid-season switch in the team.

  5. hopefully not a premature end for his career. drivers on the sidelines are easy to forget…

    1. Yep, cf. Frijns

  6. Perhaps this opens up an opportunity for Caterham. They made a serious mistake in taking Pic and van der Garde this year, so serious that they might have lost tenth place to Marussia. But if they dumped van der Garde and took da Costa, they might be able to reclaim some of that lost ground.

    1. I think they would prefer taking Vandoorne or something instead of da Costa …

      1. They have no connection to Vandoorne. I only suggested them because da Costa has been racing for Arden Caterham this year.

    2. I think even going with Kovalainen would give them more chance of doing that than a rookie!

      1. Maybe they could even go for both. Hence getting from Kovalainen the experience needed for evolving the car, and the quickness of a promising talent in da Costa.

        1. And none of the money from Pic or van der Garde.

    3. Red Bull might sponsor that decision as well. Good tip @prisoner-monkeys!

      1. It could even be a sort of backup plan, as they did with Ricciardo when he was put into the HRT team back in 2011. So if by the end of 2014 one of the Toro Rosso drivers isn’t living up to the expectations, they would have in theory one good replacement. But this is just speculation.

      2. @vettel1 – The more I think about it, the more I think Red Bull will have a hard time holding onto him. If Kvyat and Vergne do well, da Costa might be stuck on the sidelines until 2016 at the earliest. That can’t sit well with him, least of all when he was on the verge of entering the sport.

        A lot of people thought Raikkonen’s decision would be the move that would unlock the driver market, but I think this is it. The other teams would have noticed that Toro Rosso was talking to more than one driver, and they would have waited to see what happened next. And this would be the best possible outcome for them: it has freed up da Costa – there is no way the FIA would allow Red Bull (or any other team) to force a driver to sit on the sidelines after deciding not to offer them a seat – and taking him would be a major coup for Lotus, Force India or Sauber.

    4. VDG hasn’t done too badly. He can justify a second season i think. Pic perhaps, should worry, but then I wonder why any driver would want to join Caterham or Marussia without firmly knowing it’s because you’re waiting for a seat higher up to become vacant (ala Ricciardo at HRT). After all, it’s not really possible to prove yourself in one of those cars.

  7. Although I’m no fan of Da Costa, even I cannot deny his talent. He deserved this so much more then this Russian child…

    1. @force-maikel – Da Costa impressed because he was able to switch between GP3 and Formula Renault with ease. But check Kvyat’s results – he has been able to switch between the Toyota Racing Series, Formula Renault 2.0, GP3 and Formula 3 with equal ease and success.

    2. He deserved this so much more then this Russian child…

      Wow – are you anti-Russian or just anti-young people? No one deserves a drive…they earn it through a confluence of factors, including talent, discipline, training, preparation, execution, etcetc, and of course, marketability!

      What’s the fizzy-drinks market worth in Russia and her allies? Or just Russia alone? I haven’t seen a Red Bull corporate prospectus or other shareholders’ document but if the market isn’t mature, growth hasn’t slowed/stalled, and/or Red Bull hasn’t maxed out its opportunity there, then putting a Russian into one of the Toro Rosso cars could be a wonderful move to further the company’s position in 2014.

      But actually, regardless of what the business sense of this decision might be, I find your reverse ageism and snide dismissal of Kvyat to be off-putting.

    3. @prisoner-monkeys I know Daniil is a talent but he could have easily done another season in the lower classes to sharpen his skills, Da Costa was as ready as can be.

      @joepa No I don’t hate Russia, in fact I’m against the constant bashing of Russia…, the Russian child thing was actually a sarcastic note because imo Da Costa was more ready for F1 then Kvyat who obviously was not only chosen for his natural talent bot probably also for the bag of money he is carrying with him. Therefor I felt Da Costa deserved it more. Don’t make it any bigger then it is.

      1. @force-maikel – That’s for Toro Rosso to decide. I’m bemused that you still insist that da Costa is more ready for Formula 1, given that he completely failed to live up to expectations, clearly struggled with the car all year long and visibly over-drove the car as he tried to compensate, which is a rookie mistake.

        1. @prisoner-monkeys You call bad luck overdriving the car? Despite all the troubles he has had this year he still managed to finish 3rd in the title hunt. I myself am bemused that you can’t look past the fact Kvyat was not chosen for the (clear) talent but for the bag of money. RB has a bunch load of junior drivers and of all of them Da Costa has the most experience and has done enough to justify at least a chance. Kvyat himself has made enough mistakes in the lower classes so why favor him over a more sensisble choice? #AllAboutTheMoney

  8. Twiiter is kinda interesting:

    Robin Frijns
    @afelixdacosta i know the feeling mate! Keep working hard!

    1. Hmm. I thought it was Frijns who rejected the Red Bull family, not the other way round? Something about them ‘treating people like dogs’. Perhaps he’s talking about Sauber in this case.

      1. @electrolite Yeah, he turned them down. The feeling he’s talking about is not getting an F1 seat when you feel you deserve it.

      2. So Frijins was obligated to accept Red Bull offer?
        As we are seeing Red Bull sponsorship does not guarantee anything.

        1. @edmarques

          Not at all. Infact, I respect Frijns for doing so.

  9. I argue with him, that this is in fact the end for him, he did well though even this season where he started with good pace and then disappeared as quickly as he rose the year before.

  10. Hm, so now the info about Vandoorne turning down an offer to race at STR makes more sense. He beat DaCosta to 2nd in WSR 3.5 so they wanted to get him in the car. When he did not take the job, they took Kyvat.

    Yes, the RBR young driver program is a big chance, but you have to be really on top of your game or get dropped. A bit weaker season (for various reasons) and it can be the end of your career.

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