Daniil Kvyat is a former Formula 1 driver who has raced for Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing. He made his way into Red Bull after the departure of Sebastian Vettel for the 2015 season. Daniil Kvyat had 1 podium in the 2015 season and finished ahead of his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo by 3 points. He achieved another podium in the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix before going back to Toro Rosso.
Kvyat made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso in 2014. He was later promoted to the Red Bull team in 2015 after the departure of Sebastian Vettel. Unfortunately, his stint in Red Bull did not last for long as he was replaced during the mid-season in 2016 by Max Verstappen.
Daniil Kvyat felt he was stabbed in the back
Recently, Daniil Kvyat made an appearance on the Track Limits podcast where he said:
“I felt really betrayed at that moment,” “It was a stab in the back and that’s life, you get stabbed in the back sometimes you know, it’s normal. Now it’s the past. I have another good career in racing so part of me of course is very thankful to Red Bull. The other part of me is still very unhappy with it.”
“I was performing really well. And I just scored another podium for the team [at the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix] and then at the time I had also a proposal to race for Ferrari to replace Kimi. That was going on behind the curtain.” “So it was a very difficult situation also for me mentally to go back from being wanted by Ferrari and having seen the contract and then you go back to Toro Rosso suddenly and then you’re like, it’s not going very well suddenly.”
Kvyat was not okay with how Red Bull handled the situation back in 2016. Daniil Kvyat acquired his nickname “Torpedo” given by Sebastian Vettel during the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix. Before the Spanish Grand Prix, Daniil Kvyat had a clash in Russian with Sebastian Vettel who was in Ferrari at the time.
Following this crash, Red Bull decided to make the switch with Max Verstappen and Kvyat. This seemed harsh at the moment but was overshadowed by the success Max Verstappen had with the team.
What was even more unlucky for Kvyat was that he had just rejected an offer from Ferrari to replace the Iceman, Kimi Raikkonen. At one point he had two teams that needed his services, and a few weeks later, he found himself in a junior team for Red Bull.
Does Daniil Kvyat have beef against Max Verstappen?
Daniil Kvyat does not have anything against Max Verstappen as he was just a young driver doing his duties for the team in 2016. Max Verstappen went on to win 2 WDCs with Red Bull and he looks like he will achieve more in the coming years.
Max Verstappen is now dating Kvyat’s ex-girlfriend, Kelly Piquet. Kvyat has a daughter with Kelly named Penelope. Kvyat seems completely okay with Max dating Kelly. Max also has a good relationship with Kvyat’s daughter. Penelope was born in July 2019 shortly after which, Kvyat and Kelly Piquet split.
What did Kvyat achieve after the incident?
Following the incident, Kvyat remained with Toro Rosso until the end of the 2017 season. For the 2018 season, he was Ferrari’s 3rd driver. Ferrari felt that he had potential in him but did not have an open seat at the time. In 2019, he returned to race for Toro Rosso for the 3rd and final time in his career.
He remained with the team till the end of the 2020 season. By then the team had changed its name to Alpha Tauri. He was the reserve driver for Alpine for the 2021 season. But that was the end of Daniil Kvyat’s Formula 1 career.
Kvyat had stints with G-Drive Racing and Prema Racing in 2022 and 2023 in the world of Endurance Racing. But now he finds himself in Nascar under Team Hezeberg. It is unlikely that he would return to the Formula 1 grid.
