Daniil Kvyat is ignoring rumours over his seat at AlphaTauri in 2021.
The Russian driver has been outshone by teammate Pierre Gasly for much of this season, although their results have been closer than the championship might suggest.
Still, in Sochi, Kvyat hailed a perfect race on home turf, as he made a long first stint on the hard tyres work in his favour.
“I know that if I get it right on Sunday I am the best and I can fly, and this was exactly this day,” he claimed.
“I got everything right with my engineers, the set-up, the strategy. Once I was in clean air I felt that this was my race.
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“I’m so happy,” Kvyat added. “My home race, it couldn’t have gone any better.
“When I saw [Lewis] Hamilton behind me and when I was able to keep him behind me for a couple of laps I thought ‘the pace in the race is amazing’.
“Perfect! Just a shame not being able to force Ocon into a mistake otherwise we could have been P7 because we were quicker, but otherwise, can’t complain.”
Still, his joy may be short-lived as speculation is linking Honda and Red Bull junior Yuki Tsunoda to Kvyat’s seat at AlphaTauri, should the Japanese finish in the top five of the F2 championship and secure enough superlicence points.
“I have been in the business long enough to know not to worry about things that are not entirely in my control,” he said.
“What is in my control is how I drive this car which the team provides me and I think what I can do is try to do the best job possible here with the AlphaTauri team.
“We worked very hard and I am starting to see these results now so it would be a shame now to worry about something else, which is also unfair to my engineers.
“I am just going to focus on this right now and when we need to get the decision done, it will be done.
“With the experience, I have in Formula 1 I am not bothered by questions or rumours.”
Kvyat though knows all too well what it’s like to be dropped by Red Bull, but is confident he can offer what the Italian team needs.
“Of course, I would be happy to stay with AlphaTauri,” he added.
“I enjoy Formula 1. I enjoy driving the fastest cars in the world, I am very committed, very dedicated. I work hard, I have been in motorsport for more or less 16 or 17 years and, of course, I really enjoy this and I need to be patient.
“It is a team that is growing a lot, even the last couple of years there has been so much growth and I feel a part of it for sure so it would be great to continue here, no doubt.
“You need to stay patient, you need to come to every weekend and do the best job possible, that is all that matters in the end.”
