Precious few drivers get a first chance to impress in Formula 1, let alone a second. But Daniil Kvyat is arguably getting a fourth opportunity to show he deserves a place in the sport.
Between 2014 and 2017 an incredible reversal of fortunes saw him go from newcomer to front runner to ex-driver in next to no time. It left an unmistakable impression Red Bull had both promoted and demoted Kvyat too hastily.He earned his first chance with Toro Rosso in 2014 as the reigning GP3 champion. When Sebastian Vettel caught Red Bull unawares by jumping ship to Ferrari, Kvyat was at the head of the queue for a promotion to Red Bull, where he seemed to justify his place by out-scoring Daniel Ricciardo in 2015.
But the rapid rise of Max Verstappen spelled an early end for Kvyat’s time at the front-running team. His double-foul start at his home race in 2016 didn’t help matters, as he compromised three of the four Red Bull/Toro Rosso cars.
He got a second chance to impress at Toro Rosso over the rest of the season, however. He had little to show for the rest of the year, however, and as the season wore on it seemed the team had every reason to replace him. Carlos Sainz Jnr was consistently out-scoring him, and the team’s latest young talent Pierre Gasly was in the thick of the GP2 (now F2) title fight.
Singapore seemed to capture the state of affairs at Toro Rosso. A jubilant Sainz claimed fourth place, while Kvyat binned his car in tricky conditions 10 laps in. It soon transpired Kvyat didn’t have long left at the team, and he was shown the door a few races later.
It seemed the 23-year-old’s Formula 1 career was at an end. Yet through another strange turn of events Sainz is no longer a Red Bull driver and Kvyat is about to embark on another stint at Toro Rosso.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
What persuaded Red Bull to give him another shot? Undoubtedly there is a degree of expedience involved: the team needs a replacement for Gasly, who has been promoted to Red Bull almost as quickly as Kvyat was.
You could also point to the value Kvyat has gained to the team and Honda’s power unit project by spending a year in the Ferrari simulator. Or the other kind of value he presents in being the sport’s only Russian driver following the departure of Sergey Sirotkin.
“When he left Formula 1, I don’t know why, but I had the feeling he could make it back,” said Sainz last year. Few know Kvyat better than his F1 team mate of 2016-17. The pair also shared teams during their time as Red Bull Junior Team drivers, and Kvyat often came out on top.
“I’ve known Dany for a while and I know how well he recovers from setbacks. And I’ve been together with him since we were both 13 years old so I had that feeling.”
Sainz said he is pleased to see Kvyat get another chance. “I’ve seen how talented he is in all the categories that we’ve been together, before Formula 1, and I’ve seen how talented he is in a Formula 1 car when he gets things together and right. I think he deserves a Formula 1 seat.”
It’s easy to forget Kvyat did fewer races as a Toro Rosso driver before his F1 promotion than Verstappen did. The driver who was team mate to both of them over the past four seasons believes Kvyat has suffered in comparison to Verstappen and expects he will be a better driver for having spent a season away.
“I think the year off will actually be quite good for him,” said Ricciardo. “It’s probably made him realise a few things with himself and I think he’ll appreciate being back in the sport and I think he’ll be more mature. I’m not saying he was immature but I think these things will help him keep a cooler head so he’ll be able to fully reach his potential more consistently.”
Ricciardo was usually the quicker of the two during their only full season together, but Kvyat out-scored him by three points that year.
Go ad-free for just £1 per month
>> Find out more and sign up
“So the natural talent was there and he definitely knows what he’s doing. He was very young as well. I think some young drivers are able to handle it but I think they’re exceptions.
“Normally, I don’t think a 20-year-old should handle F1 easily. Obviously Max and all that, there’s a few exceptions but to put everyone in that category, it’s too high an expectation.”
There are many examples of F1 drivers like Felipe Massa who arguably came into the top flight too soon and benefited from a season away. Massa was a much more complete driver when he returned to Sauber in 2004, and went on to become a race-winner and championship runner-up.
Kvyat’s occasionally destructive streak in his first F1 stint earned him the nickname ‘torpedo’. If 2019 becomes the first chapter in a long career in the sport, perhaps ‘boomerang’ would be more appropriate. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to some of those already on the grid.
“Dany on his day is very difficult to beat,” said Sainz. “Extremely difficult to beat.
“Mostly [I’m] not here to speak well about my direct competitors but I just want to say I have a lot of respect for him. I keep to myself why and all that but he is definitely a guy who deserves to be in Formula 1.”
@HazelSouthwell contributed to this article.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2019 F1 season
- McLaren Racing reports reduced £71 million loss in 2019
- Kvyat: Hockenheim podium last year was “my biggest achievement” so far
- How the FIA’s new encrypted fuel flow meter targets Ferrari’s suspected ‘aliasing’ trick
- “He smashed my office door”: 23 must-see moments from ‘Drive to Survive’ season two
- ‘I should have done a better job. There’s things that I know I can do better’
ColdFly (@)
15th January 2019, 9:45
Every time Kvyat was ‘promoted’ as F1 race driver Hamilton was on pole.
Verstappen has to wait until Kvyat’s next demotion to have a ‘guaranteed’ win ;)
Jere (@jerejj)
15th January 2019, 10:39
@coldfly ”Every time Kvyat was ‘promoted’ as F1 race driver Hamilton was on pole.”
– Not in India in 2013 (the first race following Kvyat’s F1 promotion announcement), nor Japan in 2014 (the first race after the confirmation of Kvyat taking the RBR-drive vacated by Seb for the following season), so not perfectly accurate.
ColdFly (@)
15th January 2019, 13:51
@jerejj, actual promotion rather than announcement thereof (i.e. MEL’14, MEL’15, BAR’16)
Fritz (@fritzoos)
15th January 2019, 9:47
I hope he will do well.
Nikki (@nikkit)
15th January 2019, 9:48
Kvyat was a fairly solid driver at one time, he just needed to work on his consistancy a bit more. But that demotion back to Torro Rosso seemed to affect him and suddenly, it was mistakes all over the place from him.
To have had a year away may well work for him.
Jere (@jerejj)
15th January 2019, 9:56
The bottom image, though. Ricciardo at 21, Kvyat and Sainz at 16.
Witan
15th January 2019, 10:59
Red Bull’s Marko seems a poor manager of human talent. He doesn’t nurture he hectors, has favourites, and sacks people by phone when they are relaxing and makes nasty comments about drivers once they have left the team.
Kvyat is not a favourite son and treated harshly as a result. What could have been if a little care and support had been forthcoming.
The other side of the problem is Verstappen who is treated as the Young Prince and forgiven every infraction, including refusing to save the team points by doing the sensible thing in Monza.
Marko managed to run out of young driver talent at the end of last year, had to bite his tongue and get Kvyat back and recruit Albon, a reasonable driver but not a proven winner to date, into the Toro Rosso team.
But out of the Marko shambles one good thing: Kvyat gets another chance.
erikje
15th January 2019, 14:03
So a poor manager, managing the best and offering new chances.
not shouty
17th January 2019, 7:37
Witan – well said, spot on!
Adam (@rocketpanda)
15th January 2019, 13:28
I think Red Bull promoted him too early and sacked him too early. Their treatment of him came across like the criticisms of the Red Bull driver system were true – that it’s basically a meat grinder, that all you are is a part in the car and if you don’t work you can and will be swapped. There didn’t seem to be any interest in Kvyat’s well being or mental health and how the demotion would affect him afterward, and when he was clearly struggling there didn’t seem to be any support.
He’s certainly a talented driver – even if that got lost along the way. I’d prefer to think that this is Red Bull trying to nurture their talent and make up for mistakes instead of discarding them, but I kinda think it’s more they just ran out of people. I wish him luck either way – it’d be a nice story to see him come back with rediscovered form.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th January 2019, 13:38
+1 to that @rocketpanda – we’ve echoed a lot of the same points!
Brian (@bealzbob)
15th January 2019, 16:40
If you wanted to go down the negative-spin route, I’ve also heard it said that they could be bringing him in more as a known entity so that they can more accurately gauge Alex Albon, who they also dumped previously. Whatever the reasons, he has his chance now, so fingers crossed for his sake he grabs it with both hands.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th January 2019, 13:37
I’m happy to see Kvyat back, saddened that it is still at a Red Bull team.
Quoting my comment from over a year ago:
That said, seeing the fate of the driver in the “other Williams seat” in 2018, I think it was better for him to spend his time honing Ferrari’s simulator. (Hey, maybe that’s what gave Vettel his experience in ballet-perfect spins?)
Xcm
15th January 2019, 19:44
You repost your comment from a year ago, as if to validate yourself… that’s not needed.
How long did you spend trying to convince others that you have a crystal ball?
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th January 2019, 20:01
Where am I claiming any of that? :-)
I’ve just recapped my thoughts into why Kvyat fell so badly in 2017. That’s hardly a future prediction. And the one thing I wished for him a year ago (a Williams drive) is – with the benefit of hindsight – something I’m happy didn’t happen.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
16th January 2019, 1:29
Yes, I couldn’t bear it if a young driver who had plenty of chances took the seat away from kubica, I know it’s not what you meant but it’d be my biggest annoyance.
BlackJackFan
16th January 2019, 15:51
Xcm – please keep your comments coming. They give us a good laugh… ;-)
Aleš Norský (@gpfacts)
15th January 2019, 14:16
I actually like Kvyat quite a bit. But the only option for him to remain in Formula 1 is to do well right away, and hopefully impress enough to secure a move to another team. I have no doubt that this is just a default measure for Red Bull…not a case of favorite son returning home.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th January 2019, 20:02
Very true, @gpfacts
Shimks (@shimks)
18th January 2019, 14:31
Absolutely, @gpfacts. I am routing for him. He was treated miserably by people who, even if stone-cold calculating, should know that to get the best out of your people you support them as best you can. I really really hope he keeps it together this time because he’s definitely got the talent!
Xcm
15th January 2019, 16:04
Welcome back torpedo!
It’s good to see him back, if only because we all know how good it must feel to be asked to return to f1 by the same team that showed him the door previously.
Kenny Schachat (@partofthepuzzle)
15th January 2019, 19:00
He’s had his moments and hopefully he’s matured into a consistently good driver. Apparently he Ferrari a lot of valuable feedback last year form his simulator work. OTOH, I clearly remember when he hid the skids in his last stint at Torro Rosso that he said many times that he had no idea why he was performing poorly. That’s the last thing I want to hear form driver: he can’t assess his own performance.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
15th January 2019, 23:03
Hopefully he’ll have thrown off his demons and prove to be a top choice to STR.
It also puts pressure on Gasly if Kvyat returns and performs better than expected and he doesn’t, he could find himself facing the same driver swap that Kvyat did.
Now that would be the ultimate irony.