Speaking to the media for the first time since being sent down to Toro Rosso, Daniil Kvyat revealed that what happened to him was completely unexpected.
The young Russian also admitted that there had been “warning signs” and that there was never a comfort zone for him at Red Bull, but after securing a podium in China, he truly wasn’t expecting to be demoted.
Kvyat had joined Red Bull last season after only one year in Formula One with Toro Rosso. He finished the 2015 season with 95 points, three more than his teammate Daniel Ricciardo and 46 more than the driver he’s been replaced with, Max Verstappen.
The news was given to him by Red Bull motorsport consultant Dr Helmut Marko who “called me in the middle of last week after the Russian Grand Prix – and I thanked him for calling me and not just sending an sms! We had a long and productive conversation where I learned some quite new and interesting things.”
During the interview with F1.com, Kvyat also sounded like he felt betrayed by the decision but also remorseful about not learning as much as he could have about off-the-track politics.
“There are many things going on behind the curtain and unfortunately I had to learn it the hard way – but now I have learned. And should I lay my hands on a good car again, I will also use that outside the car much more.”
When asked if a podium this weekend in Spain would be “really nice”, the young Russian driver directly replied with “Beating a Red Bull Racing car would be great. I’ve done it already in the past – in 2014 – and it would be great to do it again now.”
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