Toro Rosso have said that up-and-coming Russian F1 Driver Daniil Kvyat will be racing for them next year, replacing Daniel Ricciardo whom moves to Red Bull. Kvyat, a product of the Red Bull Junior Driver Programme, will team up with Jean-Eric Vergne at the Toro Rosso squad.
This season, the Rome-based 19-year old is fighting for position in GP3 as well as the European Formula Three tournament plus he tested for Toro Rosso during the Silverstone young driver session in July.
“This is certainly great news, a fantasy become a reality and I also wish to thank Red Bull and Toro Rosso for offering me this invaluable possibility,” stated Kvyat. “Since I started karting, I wished to get to Formula One and today that dream will come true next season.
“we had a short stint working together with the Toro Rosso staff, whilst I drove on their behalf during the Silverstone test and I also enjoyed the experience of it all alot. The very fact I’m located in Italy and talk Italian will, I’m certain, assist me to be a vital member of the team extremely quickly.”
In 2012 Kvyat got the Formula Renault 2.0 Championship title with seven wins to his name. This season he competed in six rounds of the FIA European Formula Three Championship, accumilating one win, five poles and five podiums. Plus, he is in a place to win the GP3 title and is presently seven points adrift from the series lead.
“We are happy to continue the plan of taking on drivers from the Red Bull Junior Programme,” said Toro Rosso staff major Franz Tost. “Daniil is a tremendously skilled motorist, that can be seen from his positions in all of the junior groups.
“He impressed the group with a very good overall performance and extremely educational technical comments during the younger motorist test in Silverstone. This implies that the standard attributes from which he is able to advance are all in position. Daniil can be safe in the knowledge that we will utilize all our experience of bringing through young drivers to provide him the greatest conceivable beginning to his Formula One career.”