Daniil Kvyat says his Formula 1 career happened in an “extremely fast” manner as he prepares for what is likely to be his final event with AlphaTauri.
AlphaTauri has already retained Pierre Gasly for 2021 while youngster Yuki Tsunoda is in line for a promotion to Formula 1 after securing the required Super Licence points.
Kvyat made his Formula 1 debut with AlphaTauri’s predecessor Toro Rosso in 2014, spent 2015 with Red Bull, but was demoted to the junior team four rounds into 2016.
Kvyat was axed by the company in the closing stages of 2017 but, after spending 2018 as Ferrari’s development driver, returned to the grid in 2019 with Toro Rosso.
“I think my career in F1 was extremely fast, like everything happened so fast sometimes,” he said ahead of this weekend’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“After my first stint in F1 I didn’t even understand really what happened.
“I came [into F1] after GP3, so I missed the step before Formula 1… not missed, but that was a decision that was taken at the time.
“I went to Toro Rosso, had a strong year in Toro Rosso at the time and then immediately promoted to Red Bull Racing after one year.
“Then I also had a strong season with Red Bull Racing there. Then we all know what happened. And then I had a couple of tough years.
“I think I always lacked a bit of experience in F1 actually, because everything happened so fast.”
Kvyat said the experiences from his first four-year spell in Formula 1 prompted a revised mentality when he returned with Toro Rosso in 2019.
“When I came back last year in 2019 I just took a very different approach,” he said.
“Not that I forgot everything what I’ve been doing before but I just started from a very fresh page in a way a bit like a rookie again.
“I managed to learn new things and also this year I managed to feel a lot of progress.
“I think, all in all, the last two years were very competitive.”
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