WELCOME BACK KVYAT

Red Bull and Daniil Kvyat. Best described as a love/hate relationship, or the person who keeps running back to their ex after being treated like, well, rubbish. After parting ways towards the end of the 2017 Formula One season, Red Bull has since confirmed that the 24 year old Russian will be rejoining the Toro Rosso team for 2019. Looking back at Kvyat's time with the team, many do not believe this to be Red Bull's best idea. However, I think differently. If anything, this is one gamble worth taking.

Daniil Vyacheslavovich (sorry, I just really wanted to put that in) Kvyat or "Torpedo," as he has become to be known by, after the disastrous Russian Grand Prix in 2016, was born in Ufa, Russia in 1994 and has been racing in karts since an early age, making is professional debut in 2005. After successful karting career in first Russia and then Italy, Kvyat joined the prestigious Red Bull Junior Team in 2010, alongside future Toro Rosso team mate, Spaniard; Carlos Sainz Jr.

It is fair to say Daniil Kvyat has had one of the most stunning junior single seater careers around. Comparing his results from the likes of GP3 and Formula Renault with other drivers of his era, I'd put Kvyat near, if not at the very top of my list of talent. And, thanks to his talent and championship win during his first GP3 season, the young Russian got a golden ticket to Formula One, joining Toro Rosso in 2014 alonside current driver Jean-Eric Vergne.

Kvyat's first year in Formula One was so-so. He was in a mediocre team just about scrapping it out for points but nevertheless, his talent on track managed to get him a promotion in the main Red Bull team after only one season. Unfortunately, I believe this to be one season too soon.

In all fairness to Kvyat, his first season at Red Bull Racing was good. He finished the season in 7th with 95 points. Impressing quite a few around him. Another year at Red Bull was confirmed but this was the beginning of the end.

The start of the 2016 was rocky for Kvyat with a number of collisions and incidents, most notably the two at that years Russian Grand Prix which ultimately lead to Kvyat getting demoted back to Toro Rosso in the place on Max Verstappen who took Kvyat's place at Red Bull. A controversial move.

With one year at Toro Rosso and one and a half year at Red Bull, Daniil Kvyat found himself back at Toro Rosso with it all to play for. But thanks to a long string of races where points were not scored and a number of mechanical issues, it was decided Kvyat was not performing and was instantly replaced. So why, a year later, are they bringing him back? Simple. There are currently no drivers in the Red Bull Junior Team ready for F1.

You may ask yourself, "but there are plenty of other drivers?" True, yes. But a lot of these drivers, such as Sebastien Buemi and Jean-Eric Vergne, are tied into other commitments. As for other drivers, I can't give you an answer as to why they were not picked. Red Bull obviously still see something Daniil Kvyat. And, that I agree with.

Formula One drivers can become under a tonne of pressure if things aren't going well or have a team mate who is constantly out performing them. The said pressure can become too much and things go wrong. It happens to anybody, Formula One driver or not. A year away from racing in Formula One, I hope, would have been a positive for the Russian. His current ties with Scuderia Ferrari should have helped him regain confidence and learn from his mistakes. Daniil Kvyat is back for a reason and I for one cannot wait to see what he can do.

OH, WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

In recent years, I have learnt to live my life through the motto; "Everything Happens for a Reason." Unfortunately, I had to learn that through the hard way, but we won't go into that. This is a motorsport blog after all. But why am I relating that quote to motorsport, you ask. Well, in a simple term, I like to wonder to this very day what could have been if both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne had made into Red Bull's main team.

Most people would be happy to say Daniel Ricciardo was the stronger driver of the two when at Toro Rosso. Well, in fact, this is wrong. Ok, not totally wrong as they were very similarly matched, which is why I wonder what could've been.

Australian driver and 2009 British Formula 3 champion; Daniel Ricciardo joined the Italian Formula One team; Scuderia Toro Rosso, alongside Frenchman, Jean-Eric Vergne, who also happened to be a British Formula 3 champion (2010), at the beginning of the 2012 Formula One season. Both drivers had been apart of Red Bull's prestigious junior team for some time, racing against each other in the likes of British Formula 3 and Formula Renault 3.5, impressing a number of people along the way, leading to their eventual promotion to Formula One.

The 2012 season would best be described as a roller coaster for the Toro Rosso team and their drivers. Having a promising start by consistently scoring points and getting to the mid-season where it was fight to just score the one point. Upgrades added to the car after the summer break brought the team back up to where they wanted to be, consistently in the points. Eventually, Vergne out-scored Ricciardo at the end of the season finishing in P17 with 16 points, compared to Ricciardo's P18 and 10 points. The team itself finished in P9 in the constructors championship.

The following year, both drivers were retained at Toro Rosso. The start of the year was almost opposite to what they achieved the year before, no points and engine failures. Things got better though. At that years Canadian Grand Prix, both drivers managed to qualify in reasonable places in the top ten, making it Toro Rosso's best qualifying result since the Chinese Grand Prix in 2011. Going on into that race, Vergne managed to finish in 6th position, making it Toro Rosso's best finishing position since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix. The two boys were breaking team records. However, a cloud of bad luck arrived and hovered over the team for some time. And, after claiming the teams best qualifying positions for some time back at the Canadian Grand Prix, the team managed one of their worst qualifying sessions ever at the Belgian race. This came at a bad time too as a seat had opened up at the junior team's parent, Red Bull. During that race, things were looking good for Ricciardo, managing to come home with some points. For Vergne, it was a different story. And, days before the Italian Grand Prix, the moment came. Daniel Ricciardo was the guy chosen to go to Red Bull.

So, off Ricciardo went to Red Bull. Putting up a fight to his new team mate, 4 Time World Champion; Sebastian Vettel. Luckily for Vergne, Toro Rosso retained him for a third year, partnering him with younger Red Bull Junior and 2013 GP3 champion, Daniil Kvyat. However, this was his last chance to show his worth.

Several car failures hindered Vergne's performance throughout 2014 but the Frenchman lived up to the challenge that teammate Kvyat brought to him. Later that year, another seat became available at the main team and this was Jean-Eric Vergne's moment. So we thought. Kvyat got the seat. Leaving Vergne with nothing, as due to the talent, such as Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, coming through within the Red Bull Junior Team, Vergne would have to step aside the following year, watching his Formula One dream fade away.

It is no lie that the motorsport world is brutal. But what would have I done? The initial decision to move either Ricciardo or Vergne up to the parent team must have been difficult and I don't envy Red Bull for having to make it, as both drivers were very evenly matched. To this day, I don't know if it should have been Vergne or Ricciardo but it was the latter so that's who we'll go with. When the second seat came available in 2014, I would have definitely moved Vergne up. No competition. He had the experience and he had proven himself against Ricciardo before. Having these two boys at Red Bull would have been good for Formula One. The inter-team battle would be one to remember, as previous seasons have shown how close they are on track. They've also had worked with one another before. It was a promising line up that Red Bull let slip through their fingers.

So, where are they now? And why was Vergne's elimination from Formula One a good thing for the Frenchman?

Ricciardo, now a multiple race winner, is still loving life at Red Bull Racing, drinking champagne from a shoe and Vergne? Well, Jean-Eric Vergne is now a Formula E World Champion. Being the only driver in that series to win numerous races in a row. Things may seem bad at the time but everything turns out good in the end. I'd kill for a "Jevcardo" line up in Formula One again but it's not meant to be. So, I'll sit back and relax, watching them both kill it out on track in their respective categories.

BLUE FLAGS: YES OR NO

In this day and age it is quite rare to NOT hear the words "blue" and "flag" together in one sentence over the course of a race weekend. You're pretty much guaranteed to hear this every race weekend. Whether it's Sebastian Vettel yelling "BLUE FLAGS" or commentators from around the globe starting a debate on whether to abolish them; you will most likely hear those words. But, are we getting bored of the words "blue flags?" With the current top three teams so far ahead from the rest of the pack, are their races ruining races for other teams because of blue flags? In this post, I'll be looking at the positives and negatives surrounding the blue flag system and whether I think Formula One and other forms of motorsport should keep or abolish them.

Flags in racing are an important form of communication towards drivers racing on track. Whether it is to warn of a hazard on track, slippery conditions or an oncoming faster car; you will see them in every motor race around the world. In Formula One, a total of ten flags (or lights, in some cases) are used. These are:

Green Flag: Start of race, restart, end of hazard, pit lane open

Yellow Flag: Hazard on track

Red and Yellow Striped Flag: Slippery Surface

Red Flag: Session stopped

White Flag: Slow vehicle on track

Black Flag: Disqualification

Black Flag with Orange Circle: Pit due to mechanical problem

Black and White Diagonal Flag: Warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour

Black and White Chequered Flag: End of race

And, last but not least:

Blue Flag: Faster car coming. Lapped cars should move out of the way.

So, as we can tell from the above, the blue flag is waved at a driver to move out of the way if a faster car is coming towards them in the means of lapping them. But is this right? Should this be the case? It's a race after all. Everyone should be entitled to race. However, that is not the point of the blue flag. In some motorsport series, the blue flag is not mandatory. And in others, if ignored, you get a penalty. Simple as. Most of the time, the blue flag is considered as a safety aspect but also is seen as a sign of respect and a courtesy to the faster drivers. But as mentioned before, this racing? Shouldn't the drivers just race?

This has been an ongoing debate for years gone by and personally, I have been against blue flags. I see it as, the drivers are out there to race, why should they move out of the way. I can understand the use of a blue flag in a safety aspect but for anything else baffles me.

After the most recent Formula One race where blue flags played an important part in the race, I went to twitter (@brxn_) to ask fellow Formula One and motorsport enthusiasts their opinions on the blue flag debate. The results may or may not surprise you.

Out of 54 voters, 63% were happy for blue flags to stay whereas the other 37% wanted them gone. Now, this may not be a very reliable poll. For example, a Lewis Hamilton fan may be in favour of blue flags staying as it gets slower cars out of his way. But, a Kevin Magnussen fan may want blue flags gone because as soon as the blue flag appears, his race would be hindered in some aspect.

When starting this poll, I also asked voters to comment their actual opinions. And, the feedback was pretty much one sided with, as shown in the results, the majority going with keeping.

Some of the comments I got back included some interesting points such as:

"It used to be more of a problem when there were 26 cars. Now, not so much."

"It is about how drivers handle it. It's about awareness and respect."

"Keep them. They were brought in for a reason. The grass looks greener but rarely is."

"I wouldn't want to see races or even championships decided by by guys blocking front-runners for political reasons."

These comments opened my eyes. As someone who was all for getting rid of blue flags, I started to think. All I want is fair racing. But now I don't know if without blue flags it would be fair. It's almost like you're driving your road car and a slow moving car pulls out infront of you and continues to go along the road at a snails pace. Now imagine it in a race. The leader would not want their race ruined by a backmarker. I'm shocked that I am now thinking this way but rules are rules. I understand completely that blue flags would be most effective in a 26 car grid, for example rather than a 20 but 20 is still a large number compared to some motorsport series.

I guess, whether blue flags are kept or not is all down to your own opinion. Now, I think they should stay. As we know, some drivers don't have much spacial awareness and without blue flags I think there could be some dire consequences for leader and lapped cars alike.