Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost believes a short break from Formula One could be exactly what former driver Daniil Kvyat needs to revive his chances of a long-term career in the series after giving himself "unnecessary pressure" this year.
Kvyat was dropped by Toro Rosso at the tail-end of a frustrating campaign which saw him score just five points, having struggled to match the pace of Carlos Sainz for most of the year. The Russian has now been cut by the entire Red Bull programme and his hopes of a 2017 drive rest on Williams, though he is appears to be an unlikely candidate as the team continues to assess Robert Kubica and Sergey Sirotkin, with Pascal Wehrlein also still available.
Kvyat has endured a difficult time in recent seasons. Having graduated from Toro Rosso to Red Bull in 2015, he was dropped back to the junior team in favour of Max Verstappen ahead of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, which the Dutchman won. The demotion had a clear impact on Kvyat's confidence and for much of the year he appeared to be over-driving his car.
Tost thinks a prolonged period away from the scrutiny of the F1 paddock could help Kvyat's chances of a comeback.
"I am still convinced that Daniil has a very high natural speed," Tost told the official F1 website. "He was sometimes even faster than Daniel Riccardo, but somehow last year and this year he couldn't show the potential that is within him.
"He was involved in many incidents - but in his defence I also have to say that he had many reliability issues and that didn't help build up confidence. Being the victim of too many incidents killed the performance he would have been able to show.
"Maybe a short break -- to get organised again -- and probably we will see Daniil back at his usual performance level with another team."
Kvyat was at the centre of a number of incidents this season, including a collision with Sainz at the British Grand Prix. Tost believes Kvyat would need to make tweaks to his approach to racing if he ever did make it back to a full-time drive.
"Sometimes he was too aggressive at the beginning of the race. The first corner was his weak point. He wanted too much in the first hundred metres -- success by any means! That puts you under pressure -- unnecessary pressure -- and that never works.
"I hope for him that he gets another chance, as I think he deserves to be in F1."