Kvyat needs to sort his head out

A wise old sage of the motorsport world once told me that frustrated, unhappy drivers simply have to suck it up when things don't go their way.

A very quick Formula 3 driver had just endured a disappointing qualifying session and thrown a bit of a strop in the back of the team truck. "Motor racing is 10 per cent joy and 90 per cent disappointment," this driver's team boss told me. "So he better get used to it!"

You could argue Daniil Kvyat has crammed a career's worth of disappointment into the past two months.

He's had his driving criticised by Sebastian Vettel, lost his plum seat at Red Bull Racing to young upstart Max Verstappen, seen that same driver become the youngest winner in F1 history at the very next race (driving his car!), while Kvyat himself was well beaten by new team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr on returning to Toro Rosso.

I interviewed Kvyat after that race. Even after a bad grand prix he is normally a picture of composure - very thoughtful and considered in his answers. I've never seen him look so downtrodden after Verstappen won at Barcelona, like he'd rather be anywhere else on Earth than the Formula 1 paddock.

Anyone could understand the disappointment. By rights Kvyat surely thought it should have been him up there, winning an F1 race for the first time and receiving all the adulation and glory that goes with it.

He probably felt he had been one race away from turning his whole season around, reminding the world, including Red Bull, of his true potential. But Red Bull gave his seat to Verstappen so Kvyat never got that chance.

No matter that Kvyat finished on the podium two races before. Verstappen is the new ace in the hole and Kvyat is suddenly a busted flush. That's tough for anyone to take, let alone a young man of 22 years who's only in his third season in F1.

Kvyat rebounded during the early part of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, looking fast in practice and lapping quicker than Sainz in the early part of qualifying. But at the crucial moment in Q3, he underdelivered. Yet more disappointment.

But still, eighth on the grid, a wet race, the sort of conditions where talented drivers really come to the fore. Potential redemption. Another chance to show what he can really do.

Then he pulled away from the grid and realised the car was stuck at a constant speed of 60km/h.

"I was so happy it was raining because I thought it would be a great chance," he said. "And then I left the grid and I couldn't believe it."

This was perhaps the moment that Kvyat finally cracked under the weight of his repeated disappointments.

He lost two laps while the car fixed itself, railing all the time on team radio about the injustice of it all. Then he went on a rampage, flinging his car around the circuit in fury. He knew the race was all but over, that he had nothing to lose, and he drove like it.

This all came to a head on lap 18, while Kvyat was chasing Kevin Magnussen's Renault. Magnussen touched the wall coming out of Tabac. Kvyat got a run up the inside but Magnussen blocked, and then again when Kvyat tried to drive around him through the Swimming Pool complex.

This was like a red rag to a bull, and Kvyat decided to "go through him" at Rascasse, taking himself out of the race and eventually forcing Magnussen to retire when residual damage caused the Renault driver to go off again at Mirabeau.

I interviewed Kvyat post-race, and again the anger was obvious. He was dejected, frustrated and short-tempered. And understandably so. He's been through a lot recently and it must have been tough to have to endure yet another difficult experience.

Magnussen said Kvyat "lost his mind" in that incident and I fear he may be right. Everyone must deal with disappointment in their own way, but the danger now is that Kvyat may be letting his pent-up frustration spill out onto the circuit and negatively affect his driving.

Kvyat drove like a man with nothing to lose in Monaco. In the moment that was true - he was several laps down and unlikely to achieve anything other than potentially finishing the race.

But losing sight of the bigger picture in such dramatic fashion meant he pointlessly damaged his car. More importantly, it ensured he heads to Canada with the handicap of a three-place grid penalty hanging over him, for causing a completely unnecessary collision. So his next opportunity to show what he can do is already compromised.

Maybe Kvyat wanted to send a message to Magnussen - that he won't be messed with in battle - but such a move was still silly, needless, and indicative of a driver who is not thinking straight in the car.

Letting your emotions get the better of you behind the wheel can be dangerous - not only for other drivers if you cause an accident, but also for your career prospects.

Renault racing director Frederic Vasseur was not impressed by Kvyat's gung-ho approach, so the Russian has not endeared himself to a potential future employer.

Kvyat admits his F1 future lies outside the Red Bull group. How could it not given everything that's happened? Daniel Ricciardo is driving out of his skin this season, Verstappen has been re-signed to a multi-year contract as part of his Red Bull promotion, and Toro Rosso is not a place Kvyat can remain for the long term.

So it's imperative he begins building bridges over the remainder of this campaign, rather than burning them down.

He's learned the hard way recently that F1 is not only about what you do on the track. But what you do on the track still matters, and what Kvyat did on the track on Sunday at Monaco was ill advised.

Kvyat is not the only one in the Formula 1 paddock with a "very long memory" and such a moment of madness could come back to bite him.

He's been through so much recently. He feels he did "absolutely everything right" during his stint at Red Bull, yet was unceremoniously demoted. He may not deserve the treatment he's received, but that's life - often it is unfair. How you react is what really matters.

What Kvyat has to do now is knuckle down, get his head together, rediscover his composure, and do once more what he's always had to throughout his career with Red Bull - drive for his future.