Daniil Kvyat will be looking for a much better opening race to the 2016 Formula 1 season after sitting out last years Australian Grand Prix when his car failed on the way to the grid.
The Red Bull Racing driver feels more confident coming into this season after a productive pre-season testing programme at the Circuit de Catalunya, especially after getting to know the Red Bull engineers during the 2015 season.
“I think compared to this time last year, I’m feeling a lot more confident and comfortable in the team, I know everyone a lot better and everyone knows me, so it’s good that we start off the season with this kind of confidence,” said Kvyat.
“With my engineers for example, we all know each other very well and with everyone in the garage too – we all know what each other is doing and what to expect from each other – so it’s good!”
Kvyat knows he will have to maximise the entry to every corner in order to get a good lap of the Albert Park circuit, and also reveals he likes the host city of Melbourne.
“Looking at the Australian GP, I like Melbourne it’s a nice, chilled out place with good food, a good beach and sunshine,” said Kvyat. “The track is quite unusual, there is no other track you can compare it to; it’s half street circuit, half normal circuit with tight run off areas.
“You have to maximise your entries everywhere, be very precise in your driving – I like it.”
The young Russian feels ready and prepared for the new season after a much-improved pre-season testing programme in 2016 compared to his first season with the team last year.
“I feel like we’re prepared going into the first race, we’ve done a good amount of work in winter testing with all the procedures we were after,” revealed Kvyat.
“We maximised everything and we know what to do in Melbourne and that’s the most important thing so there are no big question marks now and that’s very good.”
