Daniil Kvyat leapfrogged team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in the championship standings after a strong drive to fourth in Belgium, and now arrives at his favourite track on the calendar, Monza, for the Italian Grand Prix.
The Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver feels the Monza circuit is special, but bemoaned the alterations made to the famous Parabolica corner ahead of the 2014 race, when they added asphalt to the run-off area in the name of safety.
“Monza is my favourite track,” revealed Kvyat. “Every corner just gives you the feeling that you are doing something special. Lesmo I and II, Ascari… every corner.
“Unfortunately [they] changed Parabolica a little bit. The changes there do make a difference. It isn’t quite the same experience anymore. You still have to push a lot and it still requires a lot of technique, but the problem is that even if you make a mistake you get forgiven. It’s not the same.
“But overall the track is still amazing. An important circuit for me in the past and I love it.
“I’ve won there a few times, in Renault 2.0 [Alps in 2012] and in GP3. In Renault I was on pole and won both races and in GP3 I was on pole, won the feature race and finished second in the sprint race. It’s a pretty cool feeling winning there.”
Kvyat lives about half-an-hour away from the Monza circuit, and feels it is like a second home race for the Russian after the race in Sochi, which takes place in October.
“I lived in Italy for about eight years and I still live very close to Monza, in Lugano in Switzerland,” said Kvyat. “It’s about half an hour drive. I will probably go to Monza on Thursday morning because it’s such a short drive away.
“But once the racing starts I wouldn’t risk it for the traffic. Anyway, I love Italy, I love being there and for me it’s like a second home.”
