F1 | Daniil Kvyat ‘’very excited’’ to join Alpine as he becomes team’s reserve driver
The three-time Grand Prix podium finisher is not done with F1 yet.
Daniil Kvyat’s remarkable F1 journey will continue as it was announced that he’ll become the reserve driver for Alpine in 2021.
Despite his third spell at Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri coming to an end last year, the Russian has kept himself in and around the sport following this announcement; he did the same in 2018 when he was third driver for Ferrari after getting dropped by Toro Rosso towards the end of the 2017 season.
The 26-year-old's time in F1 started seven years ago at the Faenza-based team after winning the 2013 GP3 Series title; he has gone on to score three podium finishes (two with Red Bull in 2015 and one with Toro Rosso in 2019) in 110 starts across his last six seasons in the sport.
Kvyat admits he’s very excited to join Alpine and hopes his experience will help develop the A521 and other cars in the future.
''I am very excited to join the Alpine F1 Team family,’’ said Kvyat.
''The team has achieved some great results in the past year and is very technologically advanced.
''Development has been strong, and I am aiming to contribute to this positive trend. I will try to bring my experience on and off track to help develop the A521 and future cars as well.
''As a reserve driver you need to keep sharp and I look forward to integrating into the team in several different areas.’’
Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi is happy about getting Kvyat in the team and calls him a strong addition.
Three drivers missed races last year after they contracted COVID-19 and Rossi admits it’s important to have a quality reserve driver like the Russian if either Esteban Ocon or Fernando Alonso got hit with the virus.
"We have a strong addition to the team in Daniil Kvyat, who is going to be our reserve driver for the season," said Rossi.
"We're pretty happy about that, because in a pandemic, it is important for us to have a strong back up, and Daniil has proven that he is a very quick and reliable driver in very difficult conditions.
"He has already scored three podiums at the age of 26, so we are very, very happy that someone is going to be able to step up if the need arises and score the points, take the car where it should be at the end of the line.
"So we are quite happy about this strong addition to our team."
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