Horner: For his F1 debut, Kvyat was sensational
Christian Horner pays tribute to Daniil Kvyat's phenomenal first season in Formula 1. He also reflects on Red Bull's junior program, often criticized by some.
To everyone’s surprise, at the beginning of the year, Daniil Kvyat was promoted to F1 despite having come from the GP3 Series and the European Formula 3 (as a guest) in 2013. When the Russian was appointed, a question arose: could he perform at the F1 level?
The gamble seems to have paid off as the young Russian driver has so far scored 6 points and is ranked 15th in the drivers’ championship mid-season, while his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne is 13th with 11 points.
Horner believes that Kvyat is in shape thanks to the Red Bull Junior program, as he told Autosport: « He has been sensational and has been the best rookie of the season so far. His pure pace and speed, compared to the leap made with GP3, is very impressive. »
He reflects on his confrontation with Jean-Eric Vergne and the future talents: « This season there were few preseason tests and Jean-Éric is a very fast driver, so the reference point he is fighting against is also very good. We have great talents coming up [in the Red Bull Junior] with Carlos Sainz Jr, Pierre Gasly, and Alex Lynn, so there is certainly talent in our junior program. »
Despite the talent within the Red Bull junior program, it has been criticized by some observers for its demands. As a reminder, Sébastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari, Christian Klien, and Vitantonio Liuzzi have been dropped from this program in the past.
Despite these failures, Horner believes that the successes of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo in the team show that it is a winning program. He explains that the 2 Red Bull drivers succeeded by going through it and explains the context of the junior program: « Our two racing drivers came through the junior team and they are there on merit. The junior program can be perceived as tough at times, but F1 is not a lenient business. The great thing to know about the Red Bull program is that if the guys are serious and talented, they will find their way and be taken care of. »
Horner is not the only one to praise the Russian’s start to the season. Marc Surer, a former F1 driver who participated in 88 Grand Prix between 1979 and 1986, has expressed enthusiasm about the debut of the Ufa native. When asked by Speek Week which driver he would sign if he had an F1 team, he replied without hesitation: Kvyat.
Like Christian Horner, Surer praised Kvyat’s adaptation in moving directly from GP3 to F1: « He is a driver with a future. His transition from GP3 to Formula 1, without the luxury that Valtteri Bottas had by having a year to learn as a test driver, the Russian was thrown into the deep end but is doing his job very well. I found him very impressive. »
