OPINION PIT + PADDOCK1 AUGUST 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 13hat appeared to be Daniil Kvyat’s final Formula 1
drive in the 2017 United States Grand Prix was
a strong one. He qualified his Toro Rosso well
and brought home a point for 10th place despite
a battery problem forcing him to switch to a more
conservative engine mode. But it was too little. Had you told Kvyat
that, 15 months later, he would stand on the German Grand Prix
podium – and in Toro Rosso colours – he wouldn’t have believed it.
Team principal Franz Tost said the decision to drop him not
just from the team, but from the Red Bull stable, was because
“both parties lost confidence in each other”. But while Kvyat had
more than his fair share of mechanical maladies that season, it
was only the loss of confidence in the driver that was the problem.
During his second stint at Toro Rosso, Kvyat managed to show
consistently good pace but failed to convert that into results. In
his 14 races alongside Carlos Sainz Jr in 2017, his peak pace was
just 0.17% off Sainz, but he contrived to turn that into a paltry
four points. Sainz managed 48. It was a similar story the season
before. Sainz strung ‘complete’ race weekends, Kvyat didn’t.
Kvyat was trying too hard, frustrated to be beaten by a driver
who he thought he’d already seen off in GP3, and couldn’t get
himself onto an even keel. Rather than focusing on the process,
hitting his marks, doing his job and letting the performances
emerge from that, he took his eye off the ball.
Last Sunday’s performance, the consequence of a well-timed
switch to slicks but after a decent showing in which he was on
for points even before that, was rightly portrayed as a tale of
redemption. It was made all the more compelling by the birth
of Kvyat’s daughter less than 24 hours before. But his rebirth
had happened long before. Prior to Germany, he’d had a good
season. He’s a more relaxed, mature, robust character able to
take a more phlegmatic approach both to his own good and bad
days – and those of the team. The Kvyat of a few years earlier
would not have been so understanding of the blunder in Bahrain
qualifying when the wrong tyre set number was called for and
he was erroneously sent out to qualify on used rubber.
A year out of F1 and away from Red Bull clearly helped. He didn’t
drop out entirely and devoted himself to his role as Ferrari’s
Daniil Kvyat’s rejuvenated career hit an unexpected high at Hockenheim. He now
has the maturity to match his speed – as well as the responsibilities of a new dad
EDD STRAWAn F1 driver reborn
“He’s a more relaxed, mature,
robust character able to take
a more phlegmatic approach”
W
development driver, which was a learning opportunity. But you
can look back even further beyond that – all the way to that US GP.
Before the race, he knew the game was up. After all, he’d missed
the preceding Japanese Grand Prix to allow Pierre Gasly to make
his F1 debut and was only brought back because the Frenchman
had a clashing commitment in Super Formula. But as we see so
often, with all lost, suddenly the weight of the world seemed to
be gone from his shoulders. He talked of a new, more robust
mindset – one that allowed him to perform in a way that
eluded him throughout much of his second Toro Rosso stint.
It’s a reminder that the line between success and failure in
elite sport is wafer-thin. Kvyat is the same person he always
was, just one with a little more experience and maturity,
better able to handle the pressure.
It’s too often forgotten that Kvyat’s first season in F1 was a
strong one. He ranked 10th in Autosport’s selection of the drivers
of the 2014 season and, when Sebastian Vettel committed to
joining Ferrari from Red Bull, Kvyat got the nod over team-mate
Jean-Eric Vergne. His stint at Red Bull was better than some
remember – although not as strong as those who point to his
superior points tally compared to team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in
2015 suggest. Ricciardo had a greater share of reliability problems
when the Red Bull was stronger, but even so it was a good season.
Kvyat’s weakness was clear, even in the Toro Rosso years.
Before being dropped for Max Verstappen, he didn’t always
react well to adversity. Look at the high-pressure 2014 Russian
GP, when he went into a negative spiral after losing places early on.
There were occasions when the otherwise personable Kvyat would
react abrasively to questions about errors, or even relatively minor
anomalies, that hinted he was struggling to come to terms with the
mental challenges of F1. This was a surprise given that what earned
him the nod over rivals Sainz and Antonio Felix da Costa for the
2014 drive in the first place was his mental strength and the
superior way he reacted to problems.
The fear when he returned to F1 this year, which reflected not
only the Red Bull junior driver cupboard being bare at the top of
the ladder but also the organisation’s belief in him, was that he
might get into another negative spiral. A fresh environment
would have reduced the chances of that, but even when things
went wrong early in the season he remained rock solid –
definitive proof that he’s evolved.
Kvyat’s return to the podium is confirmation that the
underlying ability that was always there has now been
converted into a high-quality grand prix driver. Impressive
for a driver whose F1 career was over that day in Austin.P16 GERMAN GP REPORT