Daniil Kvyat‘s recent run of good form took a knock in the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday. The Russian was eighth after his mandatory pit stop under the first Virtual Safety Car before Honda power failure forced him to retire with twenty-four laps remaining.
The Toro Rosso Honda driver was looking to keep his team in the hunt for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with another top ten finish but mechanical trouble put his STR14 to bed for two weeks at least.
This is Kvyat’s first non-finish since Baku and underlines the cruelty of what Formula 1 can do to a driver at times, saying that it is “a big shame to miss out on valuable points”, but remains upbeat on the job in hand for Singapore next time out.
“It was shaping up to be an amazing race today, we were fighting Red Bull Racing at the time of my retirement, so good points were on the table for us,” Kvyat added.
“However, this is our sport unfortunately, and sometimes you can do a great job but something in the car gives up and you have to pull over. I was putting in the same lap times with those around me and was on fresher tyres, so I was confident I could finish well inside the top 10.
“It’s a big shame to miss out on valuable points, but we have been having quite a few strong Sundays lately, so we know we can fight for good results. Let’s think of Singapore now.”
The Monza retirement leaves the Russian in tenth in the Drivers’ Championship, two positions down after being jumped by his ex-team-mates Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon.
