Horner labels Kvyat as a "good candidate" for Williams drive

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes that Daniil Kvyat is a "good candidate" for Williams. Kvyat was dropped by Toro Rosso earlier this week, with Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko confirming that the Russian would not drive for the team again.

Currently, there is an opening at Williams for the 2018 season, with much of the focus being around Robert Kubica and Paul di Resta, who are said to be contesting for Felipe Massa's seat. The Grove-based team has not denied that Massa himself could keep the seat.

Kvyat has now emerged as a contender for the race seat, however one stumbling block may be the fact that he is 23 years of age. Martini, who are the title sponsors of Williams has said that it wants at least one driver over the age of 25 to partner teenager Lance Stroll.

Speaking about Kvyat to Sky Sports in Mexico, Horner said: "Unfortunately with Red Bull things have come to a close. But I would hope that he has done enough to earn himself a seat elsewhere. There's still obviously a Williams seat available and I would have thought he'd be a good candidate for that."

Kvyat joined Formula 1 in 2014 with Toro Rosso, before finding himself at parent team Red Bull one season later. However, after four rounds of the 2016 season he was demoted back to Toro Rosso. Horner admitted it is difficult to say whether he was promoted too early or not.

"It's always a difficult one, you have to grab the opportunity when you have it. Obviously Sebastian went to Ferrari, which created a seat, and Daniil was the guy who got that chance. In 2015 I thought he did a pretty respectable job, and then 2016 was a difficult year for him. Unfortunately that was the end of his time at Red Bull, but he got a second opportunity at Toro Rosso."

Fergal Walsh