Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso’s Russian driver, was born in Ufa on 26 April 1994.  He first turned a wheel in motor sport at the age of 9: he was on his way home from school one day when he spotted a go-kart track and asked if he could have a go.

He soon became consumed by racing and began competing seriously in Russia, but a major step up the ladder involved he and his family packing their bags and heading for Rome, to be at the heart of karting in Europe, where he began by finishing third in the European KF3 Championship and second in the WSK International Series.

As a resident in the Italian capital, he soon picked up the Italian language, which is why many people started referring to Daniil as the “Russian from Rome”.

The move up to single-seaters came in 2010, with the support of the Red Bull Junior Team Programme, who placed him in the European and Pacific Formula BMW series. The following winter, he sharpened his skills in the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand and then in 2011, he was racing back in Europe in Formula Renault 2.0, competing in all this category’s races in the Eurocup and North European Cup.

Kvyat came third in the Eurocup and second in the NEC, deciding to stick with Formula Renault 2.0 for 2012. This time he came second in the Eurocup Series and won the Alps category with seven race victories.

With that title in the bag, Daniil moved up to the GP3 series for 2013. He was outstanding in his debut in this category and was on a rapid trajectory to Formula 1, winning the GP3 championship and replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Toro Rosso.

F1 Debut and a Return to F1

Daniil Kvyat made his F1 debut at the age of 19, at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix: his ninth place meant that he displaced Sebastian Vettel as the youngest ever F1 points scorer.

He went on to take five more top-ten finishes that year, which got him a seat with Red Bull Racing for 2015. Kvyat stayed with the team until the start of the European part of the 2016 season, when he returned to Scuderia Toro Rosso.

The following year, he switched to the role of development driver for Scuderia Ferrari, before rejoining our team for 2019.

2011: Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, finished 2nd
2011: Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup, finished 3rd
2012: Formula Renault 2.0 Alps, finished 1st
2012: Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup, finished 2nd
2013: GP3 Series, finished 1st
2014: Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Driver, finished 15th
2015: Red Bull Racing F1 Driver, finished 7th
2016: Red Bull Racing/Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Driver, finished 14th
2017: Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Driver, finished 19th
2018: Ferrari Development Driver
2019: Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Driver