MEDLAND: Why this ride-swap is different

As auditions go, Pierre Gasly has one of the easier ones to look forward to in Malaysia this weekend.

Formula 1 is a ruthless business - as Daniil Kvyat can attest - but the current set-up at Toro Rosso lacks its usual feeling of trepidation. Carlos Sainz is Renault-bound in 2018 and that means Kvyat and Gasly are the front runners to hold those two seats next season, despite team principal Franz Tost's claim that "the driver switch gives us an opportunity to make a more informed decision regarding our 2018 driver choices."

Right now, those choices are realistically the two drivers who are swapping seats between now and the end of the year.

"For a variety of reasons, some of them due to technical problems, but others being mistakes of his own making, Daniil Kvyat has not really shown his true potential so far this year, which is why we are standing him down for the next races," Tost said when announcing Gasly's promotion. "This will give us the opportunity to evaluate Pierre on-track during a proper race weekend."

It's a sensible decision, because it gives Gasly an opportunity to show what he can do at little risk to Toro Rosso. The team has had a largely impressive season, but Sainz has contributed 48 of its 52 points so far this year. Kvyat's impact has been minuscule, with Pascal Wehrlein having picked up more points for Sauber than the Russian has for Toro Rosso (and in two fewer races, no less).

Confidence is key for a driver, and Gasly will be riding a wave of it right now. Having gone over 1000 days without a single-seater victory before winning the GP2 feature race in Silverstone last year, the Frenchman wrapped up the GP2 title at the final round. This year he has shown a similar upturn in form, with just one seventh and one fifth place from the opening four races in Super Formula being followed by consecutive victories and a second place to move into title contention (below).

Having thrown away a GP victory in Austria - the race before his Silverstone win last year - Gasly has since shown all the hallmarks of a driver with the capacity to deliver results when he needs them most, which bodes well for his promotion this weekend.

But just how well will he have to perform?

Toro Rosso has often had a queue of young drivers waiting for an opportunity, with more drivers than seats available and mid-season swaps occurring regularly Think Scott Speed being replaced by Sebastian Vettel in 2006 and Sebastien Bourdais making way for Jaime Alguersuari a year later. But right now, those options are few and far between. In fact, there are none within the Red Bull stable.

Behind Gasly, the driver in the most senior category is Finnish youngster Niko Kari, the 17-year-old sitting tenth in the GP3 championship with one podium to his credit this season. Kari, who has already been told he won't be retained beyond the end of this season, was joined by fellow Red Bull young driver Dan Ticktum at the Monza round, with Ticktum sitting seventh in his full-time championship of Formula Renault 2.0.

Dutch driver Richard Verschoor and American Neil Verhagen are teammates in the same series as Ticktum, but are hardly setting the world alight: they currently sit tenth and 11th in the championship respectively. Below that, all of Red Bull's young prospects are currently racing in karts.

Needless to say, none of the above drivers are even close to securing enough points for a Superlicence, and therefore are not in the frame for a Formula 1 race seat next year.

So why is there a relative lack of depth in the Red Bull talent pool? The answer could be as simple as one name: Max Verstappen (above).

Before Verstappen, Red Bull was nurturing drivers from a young age, investing in their futures, and setting targets throughout their junior careers that they needed to achieve in order to continue receiving backing. It was cut-throat, but ensured that the best drivers continued to progress, and learned to perform under pressure at the same time.

Then this prodigious talent appeared in European Formula 3, straight out of karts, and starting getting the attention of every Formula 1 team. Mercedes was clearly interested and made offers, but in order to trump Toto Wolff and co, Red Bull offered Verstappen a Toro Rosso race seat if he joined its program. Deal sealed.

In doing so, Red Bull broke from tradition, but actually filled a gap that was being created in a similar manner to the one that it has now. Gasly wasn't ready, and Alex Lynn left to join Williams after being overlooked for a Toro Rosso seat alongside Verstappen in favor of Carlos Sainz. At the time, Dean Stoneman and Calum Ilott were added to the program, but both only lasted a year.

As Lynn's departure highlighted, drivers were getting wise to the lack of opportunity brought about by Verstappen's arrival. No longer was delivering what Red Bull asked you to good enough: you do that and still find someone plucked from elsewhere and delivered straight into an F1 seat if the team felt the need.

Not that that's a criticism of Red Bull, for talent like Verstappen could not be overlooked, but it created doubts for some other young drivers. Right now, the hottest properties outside Formula 1 are being developed by Ferrari (Charles Leclerc), Mercedes (George Russell) and McLaren (Lando Norris). The latter had talks with Red Bull – as well as Mercedes and Renault – before opting for McLaren.

As a result, by default, Gasly and Kvyat should be the 2018 Toro Rosso line-up. But that's not necessarily a bad thing...

Gasly has earned his shot. He has every chance of winning both the GP2 title and the Super Formula championship in consecutive seasons, something Stoffel Vandoorne failed to do a year ago. At just 21 he is still very young, and has obviously shown enough to Dr Helmut Marko to retain his position in the program even through his victory drought.

Regardless of the results Gasly produces, however, he needs a benchmark to be compared against. This season, Sainz is clearly a high-quality one, but it would be unfair to fully judge the debutant on the next two weekends after having been drafted in at short notice.

Next year, however, recalling Kvyat when Sainz is loaned to Renault would allow a more considered evaluation of Gasly's potential against a driver who is well-known to both Toro Rosso and Red Bull. In making the switch this year, Red Bull has also given Kvyat the kick up the backside he needs if he is to remain in Formula 1; this year's form having been nowhere near the standard of some of his previous performances.

So the pressure off the drivers somewhat, and for once it is on the team instead. Red Bull needs to deliver a race-winning car in 2018 or risk losing Verstappen or Daniel Ricciardo - or potentially both - while Toro Rosso needs its two drivers to perform due to a lack of further options further down the chain.

More than simply giving him a chance, perhaps promoting Gasly is the evidence Red Bull needs that it still wants to take drivers from grassroots all the way to F1, and will kickstart the conveyor belt of talent once again.