Red Bull didn't want Daniil Kvyat to experience the same problem that hindered Romain Grosjean's career, when the Frenchman caused a string of crashes which eventually resulted in a one-race ban.
Grosjean emerged a better driving having learnt his lesson and is now highly sought after, having impressed at Lotus and now newcomer Haas.
Red Bull's Helmut Marko believes Kvyat could benefit in the same way Grosjean did from his race ban, by returning to Toro Rosso where the pressure on him to perform won't be as intense as it is now.
"It [the swap] was primarily a measure to take away the pressure on Daniil," Marko told Motorsport-Total.
"He has not nearly the same performance as last year. He has been an average of three to five tenths slower than [Daniel] Ricciardo [this year]. Last year he was on a level.
"He has been very inconsistent, had many ups and downs. Sometimes it was good, as we saw in China, but he has put so much pressure on himself that these fluctuations come automatically.
"The crash in Sochi is a consequence of the internal pressure, which he has built himself, it did not come from us.
"Our luxury is that we have the ability to set him up at Toro Rosso again. Romain Grosjean was once in a similar situation and had crash after crash. We wanted to avoid that happening [with Kvyat]."
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