Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat says Baku circuit requires ‘big balls’ after his first Q3 finish of 2019 in F1 Azerbaijan GP.
Having ended up as the best of the rest in FP2 on Friday, Kvyat crashed out after losing the rear in the right-hander but that didn’t deter his confidence as he once again took the mantle of best of the rest in FP3 and nearly got it in qualifying too.
He was beaten to it by a spirited Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, who seems to be the master of Baku City Circuit. Azerbaijan GP’s Q3 finish was Kvyat’s first of the 2019 season as the Russian hailed a clean lap which required ‘big balls’ to get it done.
“It was a good qualifying, I had a great lap in Q3 – it gives you great satisfaction to put in a good lap, especially at a track like this as it’s a circuit for brave drivers,” said Kvyat. “Conditions were not ideal for anyone because we missed out on track time.
“But I generally don’t need a lot of laps to find good pace. I brushed the wall on one of my laps, but you need to have big balls around this track to get the best time. It will be long race and we’ll try and put everything together.
“I think we have a chance for a strong result. The race can be very unpredictable, so I’ll keep a cool head and do the best job I can.” In only two attempts so far for Kvyat at Baku, he is yet to see the chequered flag but it could change for good this weekend.
Meanwhile, the margin by which he was beaten in the end wasn’t too much with Perez only 0.088s ahead in fifth. It was actually a supreme lap from the Mexican considering the lack of competitiveness so far from Racing Point against the other midfield teams.
Like Kvyat, the two-time podium finisher at Baku hailed the effort from his team. “It was a great qualifying, the team did a tremendous job in terms of the strategy,” he said. “We reacted really well and got all the decisions right – when to go out and when not to go out.
“It was a long session, the track cooled down a lot but I think we did a good job and we were able to get more out of the car. This is a very unique track, it pushes the driver to the maximum. You need to be on the limit every lap without making any mistakes.
“It takes a lot of commitment and confidence. It will be a long race, we have some very fast cars around us but anything can happen here in Baku. A single mistake can cost you a lot. It is important to stay cool and I think if we are able to finish the race we should be able to score good points.”
Their teammates though Alexander Albon and Lance Stroll respectively, did not have a great outing as the former struggled in getting the tyre temperature work to get in Q3 while the latter rued yellow flags disrupting his lap.
Apart from Kvyat and Perez, Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi was pleased as well to finally get into Q3 and get the better of Kimi Raikkonen in the end. The Italian hasn’t had a clean run so far in 2019 but it worked well in his favour in Baku till now.
“To be in Q3 for the first time makes me really happy,” he said. “My pace was already very strong in FP2. We got the maximum out of our car in qualifying, and even if I’ve been given a 10-place penalty I hope to score some points here.
“It’s been a chaotic race for the last two years and we can’t predict how it will be this year, so we will do our best to have a good race and fight our way forward.” His teammate wasn’t too happy after he found himself behind Hamilton on his quick lap.
Apart from them, McLaren’s Lando Norris was another happy campaigner to get seventh on a track which the team says will be difficult to eke out a huge result from. The British racer had a trouble-free run which was key for a Q3 result.
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