Daniil Kvyat believes he is proof to Pierre Gasly that “everything’s possible” despite his demotion from Red Bull last year.
The Frenchman struggled to settle alongside Max Verstappen in the first half of 2019, having been thrust into the senior team following Daniel Ricciardo’s move to Renault.
A run of poor results, struggling to even beat some midfield drivers, eventually led to his return to Toro Rosso during the summer break, but Kvyat doesn’t think that shows Gasly isn’t up the task.
“I think almost everyone who’s come through this team has been very talented,” Kvyat told Motorsport.
“Some were unlucky with timing, like in my case at Red Bull it was not the best timing to be in the team. I really don’t want to talk for Pierre and what happened to him at Red Bull, it wouldn’t be right.
“But now, of course, it’s all OK. He had a shorter time at Red Bull and he has a living example in front of him that everything’s possible, even if you get dropped from Red Bull. It’s good that they gave a second chance to both of us, I think.”
Almost immediately after rejoining Toro Rosso, Gasly was able to match the results he was scoring at Red Bull in the tail-end of the top 10 and highlighted his season with a second place in Brazil.
That was in contrast to Kvyat who struggled after his demotion and was later dropped altogether only to return again for 2019.
“Sometimes timing works for you, sometimes timing works against you. In the end, it’s all about trying to be patient and doing your job, and being in the right place at the right time,” said the Russian.
“I don’t want to give too much deep thought about my current situation or my past situation, it’s just the way it happened. It could have not happened, but it happened, and I’m pretty happy.
“Of course, I’m always grateful to Red Bull. They’ve been very harsh on me, but also very good to me at the same time. There are many things that I’m grateful for, and hopefully the relationship continues to be very strong.”
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Certainly, Kvyat has been more settled during his third stint at Toro Rosso and credits his year off the grid in 2018 for that.
“I think once you see everything from a different perspective, maybe you’re outside from the sport, and you think, ‘OK if I ever have a chance then I will kind of give it more love, and more passion’,” he explained.
“Then during the year you become more and more competitive, and you always want more. It’s normal.
“Whenever I have a bad day I remember those days and I say, ‘OK every day here is a good day, no matter how disappointing the race was,’ and so on. Of course, those times definitely helped, yes.”
