Daniil Kvyat: “There are circumstances that have to align in F1, and that didn’t happen for me”. Daniil Kvyat looks back on his years with Red Bull in F1.

2016 Spanish GP
It was the 2016 Formula One campaign when, after just over one season with Red Bull and a total of two podiums, the Milton Keynes team decided to drop Daniil Kvyat from the Spanish Grand Prix, demoting him to Toro Rosso. It was a real swap between the two teams, which saw Max Verstappen’s promotion at the same time. The Dutchman, still only 18 years old, won in his very first race with Red Bull.

This decision marked the trajectory of the Russian driver’s Formula 1 career, which ended with Toro Rosso and the series at the end of 2020, after he had the satisfaction of a podium in the 2019 German Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen continued his rise, eventually toppling Mercedes’ dominance and securing three Formula 1 world titles.

When factors don’t align
Reflecting on his Formula 1 career in an interview with formule1.nl, Daniil Kvyat admitted he still has mixed feelings: “I will always look back on it knowing that I didn’t achieve the maximum,” he confessed. “I had the potential to fight at least for the championship as a driver. Naturally, luck plays a big role. In Formula 1, winning or not depends on many factors. It always depends on the material you have available, as we’ve seen clearly recently. In fact, it’s often the car that determines whether you finish first, fifth, or tenth. In other words, even in Formula 1, the stars need to align a bit so that you end up in the best car as the best driver. Of course, to win you have to do many things well, but what I’m trying to say is that you also need a series of circumstances in your favor, and that hasn’t always happened for me.” – the Russian driver pointed out.

A competitive driver who can fully express his potential behind the wheel of the best car. Two elements that never aligned for Daniil Kvyat in his F1 career, according to the former Ferrari and Alpine test driver: “As I said, I know my worth as a driver, and with a championship-worthy car I would definitely have been a contender for the title,” the Russian emphasized. “I don’t like to use big words and say I would have won easily, because competition in Formula 1 is fierce and has always been so. That’s how it should be, and it’s also the reason why we all want to drive in Formula 1. We all love this intense competition. Looking back, I had my chance at Red Bull when the car wasn’t great, to put it mildly. Of course, Max, but even Sebastian Vettel before him, had their chance at Red Bull when the car was very strong. The circumstances have to align, and that didn’t happen for me.” – the former Red Bull driver concluded.