Daniil Kvyat has declared himself happy with his return to Scuderia Toro Rosso after grabbing a point at the Spanish Grand Prix.
It was a disappointing start to the race for the Russian, who had to give back two places he gained on the opening lap as he was deemed to have overtaken under the safety car. He later pitted and came out behind a lap behind the leaders, but was able to follow them through the field to eventually pass Esteban Gutierrez for tenth place.
Kvyat said, “It was a good race for us today. We had to give two positions back at the restart of the race, so we lost a bit of time there. But apart from that, the pace was strong and we were competitive.
“It’s positive to be back and to finish in the points straight away. The car felt good and it didn’t take me a lot of time to get used to it. The second half of the race was fun, following the leaders without interrupting their fight, and I was able to overtake Gutierrez and get back into the points.”
“The team also did a great job with the strategy and I’d like to congratulate them for this. It was a very productive day for the team, overtaking Haas in the Championship, so all in all, a positive weekend and we will continue fighting.”
Team Principal Franz Tost praised his returning driver, and the team’s strategy for getting him into the points. He said, “Daniil had to start from P13, which didn’t make things easy, but he also did a good job in the opening laps.
“Unfortunately he overtook two cars under the Safety Car, so he had to give these positions back and this compromised his race a bit, but then he caught up again thanks to a great strategy and good pit stops. He managed to cross the line scoring a point, which is a positive sign and very important for us.”
