Daniil Kvyat was delighted to snatch fourth place after a brilliant first lap after the Safety Car at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Running seventh, the Russian was the only driver to really make the late switch to soft tyres work as he passed three cars, including Alex Albon and Sergio Perez on the run to Tamburello.
The pick of his moves though was a bold move on Charles Leclerc around the outside of Piratella for P4, although Kvyat was left slightly disappointed not to clinch a podium having been unable to overtake Daniel Ricciardo in the closing laps.
“It was a good race, it was a good, strong result,” he stated afterwards. “And yeah, of course now I’m talking and thinking more about the podium because it was so close.
“Really, really difficult on the restart, but I managed to do some good moves. Daniel just warmed up his tyres and yeah, it was very hard. Very close until the end, but I had to do some brave racing today. I had some fun today.”
Kvyat’s result extended AlphaTauri’s scoring streak to 10 races, as they kept the pressure on Ferrari for P6 in the Constructors’ Championship, and was particularly satisfying after a loss of water pressure forced teammate Pierre Gasly to retire after starting fourth.
“I believe always more and more in our potential,” he said. “As a team, and me as a driver, I keep feeling better in the car through the year.
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“There are some things that we understand – I mean, my side of the garage understands now – I wish we understood them a bit more in the beginning, how to make the car work a bit better, but we really got there, since Spa it was a good step.
“Pierre has been very fast this year, but since Spa, if you look at it, we were really close and very competitive and it was a good race today.
“It’s very important for me to get this weight out, like a very strong result, very strong race, and I’m happy.”
However, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has already indicated Kvyat is to be replaced by Yuki Tsunoda for 2021, the Austrian ruled out a late change of heart.
“No,” he laughed, on if he had a chance of keeping his seat. “It was a good performance but it will help him in the future or to position himself in the future…”