SEPANG, Malaysia: Pierre Gasly will make his Formula One debut with Toro Rosso at the Malaysian Grand Prix this week after Daniil Kvyat was dropped.
Team principal Franz Tost says Kvyat's poor performances led to them “standing him down for the next races”.
The 23-year-old Russian driver has four points from 14 races.
Tost says Kvyat “has not really shown his true potential so far this year”, citing technical problems and “mistakes of his own making”.
Gasly, a 21-year-old Frenchman on the Red Bull junior drivers' program, has been racing in Japan in the Super Formula category.
Toro Rosso is a feeder team for Red Bull.
The Malaysian GP is at the Sepang Circuit on Sunday.