Daniil Kvyat makes Max Verstappen admission after brutal Red Bull seat swap
While Max Verstappen went on to win titles, Daniil Kvyat had to race in other series.
Daniil Kvyat admitted it has not been easy to watch on from the sidelines as Max Verstappen wins races and titles in a Red Bull car that the Russian felt he never got a fair go in.
Kvyat was the man to make way in 2016 as Verstappen moved up from Toro Rosso and, with the Dutchman winning his first race in Red Bull colours, it quickly became unlikely that Kvyat was ever going to find a way back in.
Daniil Kvyat looks back with ‘mixed feelings’ on F1 career
After being replaced by Verstappen, Kvyat moved back to Toro Rosso where he stayed until the end of 2017 before taking a reserve role at Ferrari. A year later and Kvyat was back in Faenza, being the first AlphaTauri driver alongside Pierre Gasly, before leaving F1 for the final time in 2021.
At the same time, Verstappen’s stock continued to rise and in 2021, he became the first Red Bull driver since Sebastian Vettel to win the title.
Kvyat conceded he looked back on his F1 career with “mixed feelings.”
“I will always look at it knowing that I did not get the maximum out of it,” he told Formule1.nl.
“I had the potential to at least fight for the championship as a driver. Of course, chance plays a role. In Formula 1, it depends on many factors whether you win or not. And you are always dependent on the material you have at your disposal, as we have clearly seen recently. In fact, the car often dictates who finishes first, fifth and tenth.
“In other words, the stars also have to be a little bit favourable to you in Formula 1. So that you end up in the best car as the best driver. Of course, to win you have to do a lot of things well, but what I am trying to say is that you also have to have a number of circumstances on your side. And that was not always given to me.”
More on the career of Max Verstappen
Ranked: Max Verstappen’s top 10 F1 Grand Prix victories
Revealed: The three rules introduced by the FIA because of Max Verstappen
On Verstappen in particular, who went on to become partners with Kvyat’s ex-girlfriend and mother of his child Kelly Piquet, Kvyat said Verstappen was fortunate to be in a title-winning car.
“As I said, I know what I am worth as a driver and in a championship-worthy car I would definitely have been a contender for the championship.
“I don’t like to use big words and say that I would have won easily, because the competition in Formula 1 is fierce and has always been that way.
“That’s how it should be and that’s also why we all want to drive in Formula 1. We all love that intense competition. Looking back, I got my chance at Red Bull when the car was not great, to say the least.
“And of course Max, but earlier also Sebastian Vettel, had his chance at Red Bull when the car was very strong.
“Circumstances have to cooperate. And they didn’t cooperate with me.”
Read next: What happened next? The nine Red Bull drivers who didn’t land the top seat
