Daniil Kvyat: F1 is “not easier” for young drivers
Future Red Bull driver, Daniil Kvyat quickly climbed the ranks to the leading team of the Austrian program. He reflected on his adaptation to F1.
Propelled to a main seat at Red Bull in 2015, Daniil Kvyat experienced a particularly rapid rise through the energy drink-backed racing ranks. Transitioning from GP3 to Formula 1 with his debut season at Toro Rosso in 2014, he scored a total of 8 points, achieving three eighth-place finishes, including in Australia, during his very first race. With this top 10 finish, at 19 years, 10 months, and 18 days, he became the youngest driver in history to score points, taking this record from his illustrious predecessor Sebastian Vettel.
Often neck and neck with Jean-Eric Vergne, who had two more seasons of experience, during the first two-thirds of the 2014 season, the Russian believes that the criticisms concerning the arrival of very young drivers in F1 – like Max Verstappen, who will succeed him within Red Bull’s junior team and will make his first start at 17 – are unfounded: “I can speak from my own experience, and for me, it went well. At the beginning, people were quite pessimistic about what I was capable of, but it turned out that everything went well. I never raced against Max because he was too young for me to face him in the same category. I will have the privilege of facing him in 2015 since he will start in F1, so it’s great,” he said happily to Autosport.
Kvyat also addressed the notion that Formula 1 cars have become easier to drive. For him, on the contrary, the reduction of private testing is an obstacle: “I wouldn’t have turned down a hundred more laps of testing, that’s for sure, like some drivers used to do. It’s not easier and it’s the same case for everyone: either you succeed or you don’t. For me, I didn’t have any particular difficulties and it wasn’t something hard for me to learn.”
In 2013, the driver with the number 26 clinched the GP3 championship title. He believes that this discipline properly prepares one for F1: « The approach I had in GP3 worked well. It helped me win the championship and I was comfortable with my car. The people around me seemed to agree with this approach and since September last year, I haven’t changed much. I’ve just made some modifications and the guys have been able to adapt the car so that I feel comfortable. If you continue to be yourself but one day decide to change, then you will find that day will be a bad day. For consistency to exist, you need to know what works and what doesn’t. I think being fair with people and with myself is the most important thing for being good in our field, » he concluded.
