The next day after the completion of the youth tests, the Alpha Tauri team announced the signing of a contract with Yuki Tsunoda. This means that there is no more room for Daniil Kvyat in the “royal races”. We understand why.
One can argue for a long time what (or who) was the fault of the not very successful path that Kvyat’s career took at some point. The Red Bull bosses, who raised yesterday’s junior to the very top too early, and then broke his self-confidence by reverse castling with the “new Senna”. Or the inability of a Russian to work with Pirelli tires on one fast lap. mentality. Personal life. There are many options. But if Daniil had not had good, strong races and speed, he would not have had more starts for Toro Rosso/Alfa Tauri than anyone else – 86. An experienced, good driver, who, however, never and there were no other options in F-1. Even after a difficult breakup in 2017, they got back together.
“If it happens that this is my last season in F1, then it’s worth looking at it only from the positive side – with my 110s or how many of them there were races. Several podiums and confident races. Of course, this is not bad, but I always wanted to be able to fight for the championship. That is why I will always have more passion for my work. I will always try to go back and get another chance. As my career has shown, you can always have another chance if you are in the right place at the right time.” Indeed, there were three such moments in Kvyat’s life. First, the victory in the GP3 championship bought him time and helped him come a step earlier in the “royal races”, then Sebastian Vettel’s departure to Ferrari in 2015 and, finally, the return to Toro Rosso in 2019 after a year-long break in as a development pilot in the Scuderia. Kvyat will probably always feel that he has some unfinished business in Formula 1 – he thought so while working with the Reds and thinks the same way now, handing out his post-race interviews with a hint of hope in voice that nothing is over yet and there will be a chance to return again.
Perhaps the Red Bull system contributed to this non-standard development of the path to F-1. In the Beyond The Grid podcast, Daniil spoke back in the spring about Helmut Marko’s approach to the youth system pupils – the guys are always kept in tight rein, but at the same time they are offered different options for continuing their careers in the junior series. The pressure is quite strong, but over time you get used to it. Probably, in the case of Kvyat, this was still not enough to create a steel character.
A great season at Toro Rosso in 2014 turned into a swift promotion to the senior team the following year. They believed in Kvyat – the head of Red Bull, Christian Horner, even called him a “future rising star” and “a promising talent.” He was no weaker than his experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo and once even drove onto the podium, then repeating the achievement at the beginning of 2016, not without the help of a very brave overtaking of Vettel. All conditions favored development and advancement – however, alas, they saw more talent in Max Verstappen, found an excuse (Vettel’s torpedoing in Sochi) and castling. The conversation with Marco was not easy, but extremely clear – after him, Daniil did not expect to return back. Only with the caveat that life is unpredictable and anything can happen.
“I completely agree that Kvyat is more talented than Gasley and Hartley. Unfortunately, he showed this only in his first year at Toro Rosso and in his first year with Red Bull. After that, the level of his performances dropped dramatically. He had problems with brakes and tires that Ricciardo didn’t have. In short, something happened to him mentally. He lost his speed and lightness. We don’t know what it was. We’ve tried a lot of things, but his speed just won’t come back. Unfortunately, we have no idea what happened. There were a lot of incidents at the start of races and he didn’t respond well to them. He climbed into his shell and did not want anyone to tell him what to do. It’s sad because I remember the GP3 races at Monza and Spa where he was head and shoulders above his rivals.” Helmut Marko, December 2017
This situation, coupled with a too fast takeoff (and an unexpected descent back) clearly did not allow Kvyat to return to Toro Rosso with the same pilot as he “graduated” from there. According to the Russian, this unsettled him a little, he needed a reboot. He never managed to recover mentally – this is evidenced by a considerable number of small collisions, and a complete loss to Sainz in 16-17 years (Daniil scored 8 points all the time, and Carlos, whom Kvyat was ahead of in junior series, – 90), and the backlog (or inability to get together in qualifications) from Pierre Gasly. During a season and a half of rivalry with him, Daniil scored only 42 points, the Frenchman – 107. Gasly, by the way, at one time (in 2019) found himself in a similar situation. But considered mentally weaker than other Red Bull guys, Pierre, apparently, managed to restore faith in
himself with more ease than Kvyat. It is possible that the matter is in the team, and the rigid methodology of the system does not teach pilots to be stronger, but at some point it simply breaks down.
Do not forget about personal life – Daniil’s rather good return in 2019 can be quite associated with the joy of having a child. But all this was overshadowed almost immediately by, apparently, a difficult parting with Kelly Piquet, who achieved a slightly stabilized mental state and negatively affected his form last season.
Nevertheless, Kvyat will definitely be remembered by F-1 viewers. Not only accidents, because of which he received the nickname Torpedo. There were also just strong performances. What is worth only the crazy Germany-2019 with the final third place or the recent Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna, when Daniil brought his Alfa Tauri to fourth position. However, it is too late to escape the Titanic – Marco noted that the performance in Imola was good, but “it will not help him in the future.” After similar words in 2017, when the same Red Bull consultant reminded Kvyat that “it’s not enough to have one good race a year,” the Russian left the team.
Probably another reason why Daniil can no longer exist in the Red Bull system is the fan base. It is worth recognizing that the international popularity of the Russian pilot is definitely lower than that of Gasly or even the same Alex Albon, and such a media team clearly needs a person who can bring fans along. It is possible that one of the fastest F-2 drivers of the past season, Tsunode, will have an easier time coping with this task.
The Bulls really need fresh blood – their system is so empty that they have to look for a new partner for Verstappen on the side. One of the old people must give way, and that someone was Kvyat. Again. There is a possibility that Daniil will again be able to prove himself as a development driver – Ferrari was more than satisfied with his work and, perhaps, they will be glad to see him again. However, it is much more difficult to imagine how even such an opportunity can be turned into another return to the starting grid this time