Daniil Kvyat

Daniil Kvyat is a Russian racing driver who is one of just three drivers from Russia who ever competed in the Formula One World Championship.

Kvyat was an F1 regular from 2014 to 2017, recording 72 starts with Toro Rosso and Red Bull, and scoring two podiums. He was out of competition in 2018 and then returned in 2019 with Toro Rosso.

Earlier in a career, Kvyat was the 2013 GP3 Series champion and 2012 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps champion.

Daniil Kvyat

Many were surprised when a relatively unknown kid got the chance in 2014 to test himself in Formula 1, but as sometimes is the case, a chance is not always given to the best, but to those who can attract money. However, the fact that he passed through the Red Bull Junior program suggests that guy definitely has talent.

Start in Formula BMW

Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat was born in April 1994. Kvyat began his career in 2010 in Formula BMW in which he recorded average results, as in the Toyota Racing Series. Move to the Formula Renault proved to be a good because in two years he has achieved 13 wins and in 2012, he won the title in version 2.0 Alps.

Daniil was the GP3 Series champion

Next year Kvyat progressed in the GP3 Series. He made an immediate impact with two victories and finished the season as the first overall. He also drove European Formula 3 Championship as a guest driver and won one race. Finally, this enabled him to enter the Formula1 as a test driver of Toro Rosso.

Daniil Kvyat, GP# Series champion 2013

F1 debut with Toro Rosso

In "little brother" of Red Bull’s family, in 2014, he got a chance to be the second driver. In his debut season, he drove all 19 races and scored eight points. Already in the first race he won two points and broke the record of Sebastian Vettel as the youngest driver in history which won a point. He managed to be in points zone in four more races and finished the season at 15th place. At the end of the year, he was awarded as Rookie of the year.

Video - Daniil Kvyat talks about his career

Move to Red Bull Racing

In 2015 Daniil was transferred to the "first team". Red Bull brought him to the place of Sebastian Vettel , so young Russian had better conditions for prosperity. He had the opportunity to show does he matured and to confirm whether he is able to cope with the pressure and fulfilled expectations. The team struggled with a car throughout the whole season, but the talented Russian finished 7th in the Drivers' championship, ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, with the second place at Hungarian Grand Prix as the season highlight.

He stayed with the team in 2016 and after finishing 3rd in the Chinese Grand Prix, what was his first podium finish in Formula 1, the future looked promising. Surprisingly, after the following race in Russia, Kvyat was replaced by Max Verstappen and sent back to "junior" Toro Rosso team. That was a hard period for the Russian who struggled the rest of the year before finishing 14th in the Drivers' Championship.

Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen

Released from Toro Rosso before the end of the season

Despite rumours that he can lose his drive, Kvyat stayed with Toro Rosso in 2017, to drive alongside Carlos Sainz Jr, and scored two points in the season-opening race in Australia. But, he didn't stay with the team until the end of the season.

He was a regular driver in fourteen rounds but Toro Rosso then rotated several drivers in the following races. Kvyat started one more time in the US Grand Prix and after that he was released from the team and from Red Bull programme.

Daniil Kvyat on a podium at Hockenheimring

Returning to Toro Rosso in 2019

In 2018, Kvyat was out of racing, serving only as a development driver for Scuderia Ferrari. The surprise comeback followed when he rejoined Toro Rosso for the 2019 F1 season. Even bigger surprise was his podium in the German Grand Prix, when he finished third at Hockenheimring. At the end of the season, he was 13th in the points.

Photo: sochiautodrom.ru formulavalles.webnode.es redbull.com telegraaf.nl