Russian race car driver Daniil Kvyat had to overcome many difficulties before becoming the champion of the GP3 series. The Formula 1 driver compares his sporting career to a roller coaster.
Daniil Vyacheslavovich does not consider every successful race to be luck. He believes that hard work is at the heart of every success. The athlete is part of the Toro Rosso team of the Austrian concern Red Bull.
The path to the dream
The biography of the future racer began in 1994. The child was born on April 26 in Ufa in the family of an entrepreneur. As a child, the boy was fond of tennis, played at regional competitions. Danya often became the winner.
Together with his parents, he moved to the capital. In the Moscow karting center Kvyat happened to be, but what he saw captured the boy. He drove along the track and became seriously interested in motorsport. From the very first lessons, Daniel showed great prospects. The young athlete made his debut in Sochi 2005 at the Christmas Cup. He won the match.
The rider was noticed by representatives from the support programs for young pilots. The novice rider was offered to start in the Italian championship as part of "Franco Pellegrini". The family moved to Rome in 2007.
In 2010 Daniel played in the Red Bull Junior Team program at the Sepang circuit. After successful karting finishes, he decided to try his hand at racing cars with open wheels. True, his longtime rival, Carlos Sainz Jr., passed him. In the Malaysian race, the Russian took part in the Formula BMW Pacific race as a representative of Eurointernational.
For his successes at home, Kvyat was recognized as the best racer in Russia and received the "Pilot of the Year" award in March 2013 from the Russian Automobile Federation
Successful start
The results of the athlete were in no way inferior to the stronger rivals. Daniel's ability to prevent accidents in order to save the car was also shown. In July 2013, Kvyat took part in the Formula 1 youth test at Silverstone. He played for the Toro Rosso team. His performance made such a great impression on the management that in the 2014 season the Russian was declared the main pilot with a partner in the person of Jean-Eric Verne.
In 2014, the driver won the GP3 final in Abu Dhabi. He became the first from this series to immediately take the prize-winning place of the Formula-1 pilot. The contract with him was extended until 2015. In place of Sebastian Vettel, who was leaving Red Bull, it was decided to take Kvyat.
He went down in history in July 2015, when he took his place on the podium of the prestigious competition. At the finish of the Hungarian Grand Prix, he finished second. In the history of the "royal races" such a result among the Russians was the best.
The 2016 season started unsuccessfully. Daniel's car on the warm-up lap stopped during the competition in Australia, crossing out everything that had been planned. Kvyat was involved in several accidents on the track, which affected his reputation as a promising athlete.
He played again for Toro Rosso in 2017, but failures did not leave the rider. In May, he was removed from participation. Confidence returned to the athlete again in 2018. He returned to the team, signing a contract for 2019.
Further results
He started in Abu Dhabi in tire tests, trying out a new technique. Daniel passed the track with the best time. New tests with his participation were held in Barcelona in February.
The racer showed decent results in the future. He almost always ended up in the top ten. Revenge Daniel took in July. He participated in the Grand Prix in Germany. The result was a prize-winning third place.
For "Toro Rosso" this achievement was the second. The first to achieve such a triumph was Vettel in 2008. The Russian also took the fourth place on the podium. Twice he took the cups himself, and the third was ensured by the victory of Vitaly Petrov.
The German race, according to Kvyat, turned out to be the most unpredictable in his career. At first, everything was against him and the team. Kvyat did not hope for a successful completion of the race. He deliberately took a risk by replacing the intermediate tires with slicks. But this was fully justified by significant acceleration and overtaking rivals.
Race and family
No less interest than in sports achievements, fans are also interested in the idol's personal life. While nothing was known about the racer's heartfelt victories, almost all attention was occupied by the name of the athlete's girl. The fans tried to find out if the pilot has a chosen one. Kvyat himself claimed that all his time was devoted only to competitions. True, sometimes he laughed off the annoying questions of journalists.
The famous athlete has a clear idea of his own ideal. He is sure that his future wife is a sociable, open-minded and cheerful person. This is exactly what the daughter of the multiple Formula 1 winner Nelson Piquet turned out to be.
About the romance that began between him and Kelly Piquet, Daniel announced on his Instagram with joint pictures. Relations between young people are developing, but both of them do not plan to officially become husband and wife yet. In 2019, the chosen one gave Kvyat a child, daughter of Penelope.
The girl was born on the night before the responsible competition of her father. Growth with her first photos was posted on her mother's Instagram page. Kvyat celebrated the birth of the baby by finishing third at the Grand Prix in Germany.
Daniel monitors his physical form, regularly visits the gym. According to the athlete, 2019 can become the best year in his career. Among the best pilots, the athlete settled in 13th position. He told the press that there were both successful and unsuccessful races, but this is a common phenomenon in motorsport.
It is very difficult to fight for victory, since even a small mistake is very expensive. Daniel plans to start the next season from a stronger position. He is very happy to be back in the team and be a part of its success. He called such an impulse a worthy start for new victories.
