Daniil Kvyat is looking forward to the mixture of tight and technical sections like Monaco but the pace of Monza as the 2017 FIA Formula 1 World Championship arrives in Baku, Azerbaijan for the second time.
A power unit failure put Kvyat out of the last Grand Prix in Canada, and now the Russian is fired up and aiming for the points.
“The track is unique, which makes it a very cool venue to go racing at.” said Kvyat.
“It’s an impressive layout: the straight is unbelievably long and then suddenly you get to a very narrow section, where you’re just kissing the walls. Only one car at a time can pass here, which makes racing a challenge. There’s a ‘Monaco’ section but, at the same time, there’s also a ‘Monza’ section, so it’s a particular track and I like it.”
In 2016 Kvyat showed impressive pace but suspension issues hit both him and Scuderia Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. in the race.
“Last year we had a very good qualifying session in Baku – I was P7 and our PACE was good. I even started the race P6. It’s just a shame that we were not able to finish the race. Hopefully this year we will have a better ending to the weekend.”
Away from the race track, Kvyat echoed the thoughts of his teammate on the closeness of the team hotels, “In Baku, we don’t run the risk of finding traffic on the way to the track as we stay literally a few steps away from it… You just wake up and you’re at work in a blink of an eye!”
Kvyat heads into the weekend with a clear focus in mind… a points finish for the team.
“Scoring points at a race where we haven’t been able to do so yet is always a target – to score points for the FIRST time at any track is always a good feeling and hopefully we can have a good race there this year and score some!”