Although the opening phase of the championship looked promising, with both the car and the drivers demonstrating solid speed, regularly making it into the top ten, Kvyat's season was plagued by multiple problems, including several retirements due to technical failures and occasional driver's mistakes. On 26 September 2017, Toro Rosso announced the decision to replace Kvyat for the forthcoming with Frenchman Pierre Gasly, following a sustained run of underwhelming form from the Russian. Whilst confirming the decision to stand Kvyat down, in a statement, Toro Rosso added that the driver switch should not be considered a permanent parting of the ways, saying "This is not a case of goodbye for our Daniil, as he still remains part of the Red Bull Family." Kvyat returned to racing for Toro Rosso at the , following teammate Carlos Sainz Jr.'s move to Renault. Despite securing a points finish at the it was not enough to secure his seat once more as Toro Rosso chose to continue with New Zealander Brendon Hartley and welcome the return of Pierre Gasly to complete the team's pair in preparation for Mexico. In the week between the United States and Mexican Grands Prix, it was confirmed by Helmut Marko that Kvyat would not return to the team and would be released out of the Red Bull driver development programme.