Kvyat gets FP1 runs in America, Brazil

The recently announced news that Daniil Kvyat will replace Daniel Ricciardo in our team next year has been one of the main topics of conversation today in the Buddh Circuit paddock, where we are getting ready for Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix.

For example, 33.3% of the Russian F1 media in the paddock has asked to interview Franz Tost about the arrival of one of their own, but to put things in perspective, there are only three F1 journalists here from Russia! Despite all the rumours and conjecture in the paddock, Daniil was chosen on merit, as he was considered to be the best of the Red Bull Junior drivers, based on his performance on track and his ability to learn and progress. He now faces a steep learning curve, before he enters the most high pressure arena in motorsport, on the grid in Melbourne next year. As some websites have pointed out, Daniil does not yet have the required Superlicense to drive in Formula 1, but this is hardly an unusual situation. We plan to run him in a two year old Formula 1 car very soon, as it’s illegal to test with the current car, so that he can complete enough mileage to qualify for the all-important document.

After that the Russian’s F1 career will start in the same way as that of his predecessors at Scuderia Toro Rosso, when he will take over one of our two cars for the first free practice session at the last two Grands Prix of the year in Austin and Sao Paolo. Before then, Kvyat has a big weekend in Abu Dhabi, at the same time as the Formula 1 Grand Prix. The Russian will be trying to win the GP3 series, which would be a nice addition to his record. He is currently seven points down on the leader, but he’s been showing great form in recent races.

As for Daniel and Jean-Eric, they have had nothing but good things to say about next year’s Russian Rookie. Even if they haven’t raced together, having come up through the same Red Bull school, their paths have crossed on several occasions. Daniel was in the FIA conference today, along with the man he replaces next year, Mark Webber. Being Australian, they were able to talk fluently about the current Cricket tournament in which their country and India both take part: this delighted the Indian media, as Cricket is the top sport here, but completely baffled the rest of the audience, as it’s hardly a global sport. As for Jev, he squeezed in a bit of sightseeing before the working week began.

Source: Toro Rosso