The Red Bull chopping block:
http://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints/item/129201-buxton-red-bull-chopping-block-cuts-deep
The treatment of Kvyat by Red Bull Racing has upset a fan base already disillusioned with the outfit. This once PR-savvy, marketing-led fan favorite lost a huge amount of public goodwill after petulant outbursts against its engine supplier, rival teams and the sport itself in 2015, coupled with a threat to quit the sport if it didn't gets its way. Its dumping of a driver two weeks after he took a podium and was voted "Driver of the Day" has further cemented Red Bull and Dr Marko into the role of Formula 1's pantomime villains.
I agree that the general fan base has changed their view of Redbull the way you suggest, but could it be that most fans are underinformed? People see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear.
Yes Kvyat finished ahead of Ricci last year, but as has been pointed out, it wasn't on pure pace. Reliabiliy played a big role. Kvyat definitely lost the qualifying battle, and was doing horrible so far this year.
So let's for arguement's sake say that Ricci was faster than Kvyat last year. Add in being out qualified both last year and this year (side note, the Bahrain session from this year is particularly important).
Then there's China, the podium, and the DotD nomination. I personally like the pass, was happy to see him get a podium. The fact is though, even in that race, Ricci was faster. Qualified higher, would have finished higher were it not for the puncture, and showed better pace than Kvyat in the race. Kvyat was also unable to hold off a recovering Vettel. In regards for the DotD, I think it's important to realize a lot of those votes probably came from people who simply dislike Vettel and/or Ferrari. Even Hamilton haters might have been happy with the events. There are also those who love to cheer for an under dog. If more fans would vote based on who actually
drove the best that day for the entire race, and not who had the best TV moments that also happened to take out the often hated Vettel and Hamilton, then I think someone else, probably Ricci, would have won the award.
So if you try to put yourself in Redbull's shoes, I don't think it's a stretch to say that since the start of 2015, Ricci has out drove Kvyat. Based on numbers that only they see, it may be by a significant margin.
At the same time as all of this, you have Max, potentially the hottest commodity in the silly season. If you look at Australia from Max's point of view, Torro Rosso cost him a better finish because of their strategy calls. Whether that's true or false is a different debate, but I think it's fair to say that's the way Max views it. Then in Russia, he has a DNF, again something he probably blames the team for.
As much as Redbull have probably already began talks with Max about 2017, if I'm an 18 year old, Australia and Russia are making me at least take a sideways glance at what else might be out there, if I haven't been looking already.
So again, put yourself in Redbull's shoes. You have Kvyat, being beaten by Ricci. You have Max, potentially unimpressed with the TR garage.
By promoting Max, what do you have to lose? Max only has to be as good as Kvyat was, anything better is a win for Redbull. It's an opportunity to squash the tension in the TR garage, as well as show Max good will. It's also an opportunity for Redbull to evaluate Max even closer for a race or two before
they decide if they want to sign him to a big contract.
If Max ends up being terrible, crumbling under the pressure or whatever, Redbull can always switch them back. Or give Sainz a try, why not?
I can't remember where I read it, but I read that Marko said at the start of the year, that all 4 drivers were being evaluated. It's entirely possible that with the information at Redbull's disposal, they saw that Kvyat was performing the worst of the four (despite the podium).
I think it's entirely possible that there was already talk within the RB camp of doing something like this before the disastrous 100m in Russia - that just accelerated the process.
When I first heard this news, I had the typical reaction of "that's bull 🤬!" However, after reading a few different websites, and reading most of the discussion here - and thinking logically instead of emotionally (which is opposite to most of the people who look at Redbull negatively now) -the move kind of makes sense.
I think the same can be said about the Redbull vs Renault saga. A lot of people made a stink about the Redbull's conduct, but no one spent much time dwelling on the fact that Renault basically came forward and accepted responsibility, confirming what Redbull were saying.
I say all that to say, while I understand that opinions on Redbull may shift to the negative because of these events, if you take the emotion out of it, that negativity is unfairly cast.
