Daniil Kvyat more than convincing in Melbourne

Daniil Kvyat responded to his detractors who found him not experienced enough for the F1 that he deserved his place at Toro Rosso. The reigning GP3 Series champion became the youngest driver to score points in F1 by breaking the record of Sebastian Vettel 24 days ahead of the German. This symbol is not insignificant knowing that the Russian was competing in his very first Grand Prix in Melbourne and that he even came to put pressure on his teammate Jean-Éric Vergne at the end of the race.

“It was very intense and it’s fantastic to finish in the points in my first race”, comments the new Toro Rosso recruit who inherited ninth place following the exclusion of Daniel Ricciardo. “It was a superb first Grand Prix, I congratulate the whole team. The start was a little difficult (losing a place to Kimi Räikkönen), but I managed to find the right rhythm and the car has shown itself to be competitive with the competition. It was close at the end with JEV, but I had to be wary of my fuel consumption until the finish and I couldn't attack him. I didn't expect to score points in my first race. It's a real additional motivation for us and we must now continue after this very positive start to the season. »

Discover the analysis of the Australian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 1952 of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.