‘Never say never’: Daniil Kyvat hopeful of a comeback despite F1 distancing itself from Russian drivers amid Ukraine-Russia war
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Daniil Kyvat
Daniil Kyvat had an odd career in Formula 1. He made his debut in 2014 with Toro Rosso, and replaced Sebastian Vettel at the senior Red Bull team, partnering with Daniel Ricciardo. While 2015 wasn’t a great year for Red Bull, Kyvat, for one, finished ahead of his more experienced partner.
His start to the 2016 season wasn’t ideal, but even he wouldn’t have expected to be replaced by an 18-year-old Max Verstappen by only the fifth race of the season. In the Spanish Grand Prix, he was demoted to Toro Rosso, while Verstappen, who replaced him at the big seat, took a surprise victory, proving his credentials.
It was never the same for him after that, and he spent 4 more seasons with Toro Rosso, but after 2020, he was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. Right now, a return isn’t very likely, especially considering the backlash against Russian athletes due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but Kyvat is not giving up hope.
Daniil Kyvat: ‘F1 has a special place in my heart’
After an year on the sidelines as Alpine’s reserve driver, Daniil Kyvat made his NASCAR debut this season, where he is due to make a total of three appearances this season. Speaking to Autosport, he didn’t rule out a return to Formula 1: “I think you never say never. But at the moment of course the timing, let’s say, is not ideal for that, perhaps. Hopefully one day we can talk about it again.”
The Russian driver says he always wanted to try NASCAR: “Right now I am racing in NASCAR, I’m welcome there. Didn’t have any issues, really. We plan to do some more races this year. I’m happy. I always wanted to try myself in NASCAR, as you know, I’ve been mentioning this, in a way a little dream came true.”
Kyvat is curious to see how far he could go in NASCAR, but F1 is still in his heart: “And of course, F1 as always has a special place in my heart. And who knows, hopefully, one day, we can talk about it again, I’m still young. As some people show you can come back after a little break and still do well.”
Kyvat feels his nationality shouldn’t pose many issues: “I am open. And I think also here in Europe, in the USA I have green lights from most categories. So there was some period where everything was very tense, of course. Now it’s less tense. But it, unfortunately, threw back a bit the progress of negotiations. So now again I’m open to start negotiations and see what can come out of it for 2023.”
He said that people ‘have his number’ and know how to find him and that he will have no issues swapping his ‘business’ suit for an F1 seat. However. There has been major backlash against Russian drivers in Formula 1: It was part of the reason why Nikita Mazepin was sacked, and there was even some controversy with Robert Shwartzman (Israeli license) who will make his FP1 debut with Ferrari in Austin.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)