Kvyat hopes new approach will pay dividends on the track

Formula 1 fans will be treated to a new and improved Daniil Kvyat in 2019 with the Toro Rosso returnee hoping his changed approach to racing will yield solid results out on the race track.

The Russian driver returns to the grid this season after a year on the sidelines, thanks to Red Bull’s Helmut Marko who considered that Kvyat was still worthy of another shot at F1.

The 24-year-old admits that he felt anxious when he returned to action at last year’s post-season test at Abu Dhabi, not knowing exactly where he stood.

Kvyat’s time at Ferrari ‘will benefit Toro Rosso’

“I was, to be fair, slightly anxious before the test,” Kvyat told GPFans last week in Barcelona.

“I had been a long time away from an F1 car and from F1, from track action, let’s put it this way. It wasn’t an easy few days leading up to it, but really happy days in another way also.

“Also, [there was] a question mark of how things would go after so long away – generally, the driving.

“Within five laps I was back to normal, and like Franz [Tost, Toro Rosso team principal] said, it didn’t feel like I had been away.”

Kvyat’s year on the sidelines, where he contemplated F1 from afar or from the confines of Ferrari’s dark simulator room at Maranello, provided an opportunity for some self-examination.

Ultimately, he believes his sabbatical has been beneficiary and yielded a new approach to his life on and off the track.

“I think things are different to when I was here last,” he contended.

“I think it was good in a way to have this year to put things together and to reflect on things, try to become better as a driver.

“Hopefully the things I’ve changed in my approach to work in general and to driving will also be very well reflected on the track.”

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Asked whether he had any hesitation about returning to an employer that had unceremoniously left him out in the cold a year earlier, Kvyat was adamant it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“I didn’t think twice, no,” he added.

“I wanted to come back and I had a lot of things to do [with Toro Rosso], and I said I wanted to come back to do my best here. My hunger [to race] grew a lot through 2017.

“Now I feel quite back to normal I would say. I’m really into it now and really enjoying every process every time I get out in the car, it’s a pleasure.”

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