Daniil Kvyat takes his first Formula 1 podium

Daniil Kvyat began the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix with a damaged tyre and little reason to expect a podium. He finished second, recording his first top-three result and raising the benchmark for Russian drivers in Formula 1.

Kvyat’s promotion to Red Bull for 2015 had placed him alongside Daniel Ricciardo after only one season with Toro Rosso. The move followed Sebastian Vettel’s departure for Ferrari and made Kvyat the youngest driver in the senior team’s history at that point.

The opening races had been difficult. Red Bull’s chassis remained competitive in corners, but its Renault power unit lacked performance and reliability. Kvyat also lost valuable running through technical failures, creating pressure before the season had developed a settled rhythm.

He qualified seventh at the Hungaroring, three places behind Ricciardo. His first lap made the task harder when he locked a tyre heavily at Turn 1, producing a flat spot that affected the car through the opening stint.

A race that keeps changing

Kvyat remained in contention while several faster cars encountered trouble. Lewis Hamilton dropped down the order after running off the circuit, Kimi Räikkönen retired with a technical problem and the safety car compressed the field after Nico Hülkenberg’s front wing failed.

The restart created a series of clashes among Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Ricciardo. Kvyat avoided the most damaging contact and moved into a position where a podium was possible. He was later given a ten-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, but his margin was sufficient for him to retain second place.

Sebastian Vettel won for Ferrari, with Kvyat and Ricciardo completing a Red Bull double podium. Kvyat finished 15.748 seconds behind Vettel and more than nine seconds ahead of his team-mate after the penalty was applied.

A new Russian benchmark

At 21 years and 91 days, Kvyat became the second-youngest podium finisher in Formula 1 history at the time. Only Vettel had reached the rostrum at a younger age.

The result also surpassed the previous best finish by a Russian driver. Vitaly Petrov had taken third place for Renault at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix; Kvyat’s second place moved the national benchmark one step higher.

His Red Bull career remained unsettled. Kvyat scored another podium in China in 2016, but the team returned him to Toro Rosso after the following race and promoted Max Verstappen in his place. He later left the grid, returned and earned another podium for Toro Rosso in Germany in 2019.

None of those results improved on second in Budapest. The race had begun with a flat-spotted tyre and ended with Kvyat standing beside Vettel and Ricciardo, holding the best Formula 1 result of his career.