Daniil Kvyat was embroiled in a close battle with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg during the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, ultimately finishing sandwiched between them in twelfth place.
The Scuderia Toro Rosso driver found a way passed the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team racer at turn one but was unable to move ahead of the Haas F1 Team driver, but even then the Russian admitted the top five teams were completely out of reach for the rest of the field at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
All three Mercedes-Benz-powered teams were inside the top ten, as were Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, and Kvyat felt Toro Rosso and the rest were just there to pick up any scraps they might have offered.
“A bit of a complicated race,” said Kvyat. “Our battle today was with Haas and Renault; nobody else was really in reach here, especially the Mercedes-powered teams.
“I managed to get past Hülkenberg, but after that I was stuck behind Magnussen for quite a long time… It’s really hard to follow other cars! I kept trying to get past him but he had clean air in front of him, so it was not possible…
“This is all we could do today and it’s now time to start thinking about Singapore, a track that suits us better. Once this said, it will still be a difficult fight to end up in the points!”
