Truly we are the lucky generation, because less than seven months after it last hosted a round Sochi is back for edition three of the Russian Grand Prix.
The phrase “the race that never fails to draw headlines” is somewhat misleading. The vast majority of those headlines stem from Bernie Ecclestone and Vladimir Putin’s annual catch-up, but certainly Russia’s involvement in Formula One has been politically noteworthy, to say the least.
But put that out of your minds for now – cast aside that the track snakes through the beach resort that hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and forget Putin’s shaky international standing in diplomatic circles – because Russia’s markedly less controversial contribution to our sport is himself at an important milestone.
Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat comes into his home grand prix on a massive high, but knows the wolves continue to bide their time at his door.
The Red Bull Junior Team and its associated drivers have long been one of Formula One’s many curiosities because, for arguably the first time in Formula One history, an entire team – no inexpensive thing – is being operated with an aim other than winning as its top priority.
In Scuderia Toro Rosso the energy drink behemoth Red Bull is funding a team solely to discover new talent for promotion to senior squad Red Bull Racing. That isn’t to say it isn’t trying to maximise its performance or that team personnel are anything other than genuine racers, but the wildly different funding arrangements between Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing underline their differing raisons d’être.
The list of drivers signed to the programme who never saw Formula One is a devastating 31 drivers long, and that of those who made it to Toro Rosso and no further is similarly brutal – Jean-Éric Vergne, Sébastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari and Scott Speed have all fallen by the wayside.
But from a business point of view it’s hard to doubt the success delivered by the programme’s ruthlessness. Sebastian Vettel continues to be the flagbearer after claiming Toro Rosso’s only victory to date and his four drivers titles with Red Bull Racing.
Daniel Ricciardo has likewise been suitably impressive in substandard machinery, even when paired with the aforementioned Vettel, while Max Verstappen’s explosive talents have distracted from Carlos Sainz’s own quick steering.
In among them all is Daniil Kvyat, the undoubtedly talented Russian, whose career with the sleeping giant of the constructors championship sits precariously heading into his home race.
Rumours swirled as early as last season, his first with the senior team, when Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko warned his senior drivers that, in light of Toro Rosso’s standout performances, the pressure was on. It was a jibe read as being directed towards the RBR newcomer after being shaded by Ricciardo in the opening rounds.
Kvyat lifted as the season progressed, to his credit – a sensational fourth place in Monaco was a precursor to his first Formula One career podium on the second step in Hungary, and he eventually went on to edge Ricciardo in the points.
His seat was secure for 2016, but the start of the season hasn’t been stellar. He was knocked out in Q1 in Australia, knocked out in Q2 in Bahrain, and then outqualified by a massive half-second by Ricciardo in Q3 in China.
Verstappen and Sainz, meanwhile, qualified in the top ten five times from six attempts between them. It doesn’t make for inspiring reading.
“Very good drivers have always spent a maximum of two years with Toro Rosso and then moved up,” Helmut Marko told Auto Bild. The writing is on the wall.
It was much needed tonic for Kvyat’s Red Bull career, then, when he secured third place in Bahrain after making a race defining move past Sebastian Vettel on lap one.
The German was far from happy after the race, but the Russian stood his ground in what was arguably his most impressive act of the weekend, and in doing so he showed the quality most sought after by his Red Bull bosses – resilience in the face of adversity.
“You have to be very fast, that’s rule number one,” said Kvyat looking ahead to his first year in the senior team. “But especially in Formula One it’s not enough sometimes – you have to always keep improving yourself, there’s always room for improvement. This is my philosophy.”
Kvyat knows the machine he’s up against – he knows it will ruthlessly defend its asset in Verstappen, he knows it will ruthlessly expend drivers to keep the talent wheel churning, and he knows he is but a cog in the grand design so long as he isn’t Red Bull’s top performer.
The two-year limit is fast approaching at Toro Rosso and Pierre Gasly is waiting in the wings for promotion. Unfair though it might be for an obviously talented driver, in Russia Kvyat must prove China wasn’t a false dawn on his way to evading a place atop Red Bull’s talented scrapheap.
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