Kvyat shows F1 teams must be patient

Ahead of this year's Monaco Grand Prix, Russian Daniil Kvyat was a man under pressure. Having been promoted to Red Bull after a single season at Toro Rosso, he struggled to make an impression in the opening five races.

While his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo had scored good points in each of those, Kvyat failed to start one, retired from another, and finished ninth twice and 10th once. That's not the kind of form expected of a Red Bull driver, even if the car was not performing to the standard the team was accustomed to.

The 21-year-old soon found himself fielding the same questions race after race. "Had he joined Red Bull too early?" "Was Toro Rosso chief Franz Tost over-egging it when he said Kvyat had the 'champion gene'?" "Was he feeling the pressure?"

Some would snap back, others would clam up but not Kvyat. Over the course of the season, he has dealt with the barrage of questioning concerning his ability and Red Bull's struggles with aplomb. He comes across as unflappable. And when he says he doesn't care about his critics, you get the impression he means it.

When Kvyat secured the F1 gig with Toro Rosso for 2014, fending off competition from Carlos Sainz Jr and Antonio Felix da Costa, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko cited the way Kvyat deals with setbacks as key to the selection. While all three contenders had problems, it was Kvyat who let them wash over him and simply got on with the job ad won the GP3 title. That same approach has served him well in F1.

When there were concerns he was struggling with protecting the rear tyres in the races last year, he beavered away at rectifying the problem and by the end of the season, he felt he was pretty much on top of it. This year, it took him a few races to settle in to his new surroundings at Red Bull - but that's hardly a surprise.

Kvyat showed promise in his rookie F1 season with Toro Rosso in 2014 © LAT

It was a huge step and he is now racing alongside a three-time race winner who had outperformed a four-time world champion the previous year. Then there's this year's Red Bull, which has for the most part been difficult to set-up and painfully unreliable, to consider. Not easy for a driver with one year of F1 experience and only four other years racing cars.

When you're part of the Red Bull driver machine, you're required to perform from the off. Drivers such as Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari know all too well that you can be out on your ear before you know it.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has always insisted that Kvyat would be given time - he's the third youngest driver on the grid with only 28 race starts under his belt - but that time is limited. Results are what count and Kvyat needed one fast.

Marko had no qualms suggesting Kvyat's results weren't good enough in the build-up to Monaco, as the pressure intensified, but the Russian brushed those comments aside and secured a career-best fourth place.

Kvyat was quick all weekend on the demanding streets of Monaco and when Red Bull asked him to allow Ricciardo past during the race to try to attack the cars in front, he did so on the understanding he would get the place back if the Australian couldn't make a move stick. The team stuck to its word and Kvyat regained fourth in the closing stages. That demonstrated a strong team ethic and maturity - characteristics that will serve him well when his future comes up for discussion.

That race was the turning point of his season and something Kvyat admitted was a "massive relief". Since then, he has started to achieve some consistency, pushing Ricciardo far harder and rewarding those on the Red Bull junior-programme selection committee who had faith in him. Monaco, of course, is unusual in its layout compared with other circuits on the calendar. Kvyat needed to prove his speed more consistently.

His performance in the rain-hit British Grand Prix was impressive, with Red Bull's raft of modifications playing a part in helping him feel more comfortable in the car. Had he followed Sebastian Vettel into the pits for intermediates (and not spun while the German was changing tyres), his pace in the wet was such that he would have been in contention for a podium.

Kvyat joined fellow Red Bull junior team products Vettel and Ricciardo on his maiden F1 podium visit © XPB

As it was, he achieved that feat at the next race last weekend in Hungary, becoming the second-youngest podium finisher in F1 history in the process, behind Vettel. Of course, he was fortunate to take second in what was a crazy race that meant a series of errors from his rivals opened up an unlikely opportunity. But Kvyat had no problem admitting that.

"The rivals were fighting and I found myself in second place," he said. "I definitely learned never to give up, whatever happens. It's a great lesson today."

Ultimately, you've got to put yourself in the position to take advantage of opportunities - and that's exactly what Kvyat did. There are still imperfections and he needs a bit of rounding, but encouragingly he remains eager to learn and, as he says himself, he never gives up.

He does not take offence when given feedback and while he has confidence in his own ability, he does not come across as cocky. When he deals with the media in a group session, he comes across as calm, measured and considered but has his guard up. Speaking to him one-to-one, that guard drops slightly. He relaxes and that confidence and belief in his ability comes through even stronger.

Kvyat is learning quickly, as he has done throughout his racing career, and is starting to swot away obstacles put in front of him more efficiently. Before joining F1, he raced in GP3 and Formula 3 simultaneously, coping with the steep learning curve that came with the challenge of switching between two very different cars and, crucially, two types of tyre. That refusal to let anything beat him remains.

Kvyat is getting on top of his qualifying troubles. That in turn is making life easier in races. More podiums will be tricky this season - and this year will only get tougher with the prospect of more engine penalties later in the season after poor reliability from its Renault power units meant Red Bull has rattled through its allocation.

But Kvyat has proved in Monaco, Britain and now Hungary that he's quick and calculated enough to put himself in contention - and he's giving off the aura that he can keep that form going. It's still early, of course. Three strong races do not confirm champion potential. But it is a glimpse of what could be to come. If he maintains this upward trajectory, I see no reason why he won't end up maximising that "champion gene".