Daniil Kvyat returns Toro Rosso to the podium after eleven years

Daniil Kvyat’s return to Formula 1 produced its reward on the most unpredictable afternoon of the season. From 14th on the grid and as low as 19th during the race, he reached the podium by keeping the Toro Rosso intact until the correct tyre choice transformed its position.

Kvyat had returned to Toro Rosso at the beginning of 2019 after a career path shaped by Red Bull’s unusually rapid promotion and demotion system. He entered Formula 1 with Toro Rosso in 2014, moved to Red Bull after one season and scored two podiums with the senior team.

Four races into the 2016 season, Red Bull replaced him with Max Verstappen and returned Kvyat to Toro Rosso. He later lost that seat and spent 2018 working as a Ferrari development driver before Red Bull recalled him for another racing opportunity.

At Hockenheim, Kvyat qualified 14th. Rain turned the Grand Prix into a sequence of safety cars, tyre changes and accidents, and he slipped as low as 19th during the early stages.

The dry-tyre gamble arrives at the right moment

Kvyat stayed out of the barriers while faster cars disappeared. Charles Leclerc, Nico Hülkenberg and Valtteri Bottas crashed, while Lewis Hamilton lost time through an accident, a penalty and repeated pit stops.

The decisive call came when Toro Rosso moved Kvyat onto dry tyres as the circuit began improving. Racing Point made a similar decision with Lance Stroll, and both drivers gained heavily while rivals remained on intermediates or stopped later.

Stroll briefly inherited the lead during the pit sequence. Max Verstappen soon passed him, and Kvyat followed to take second place. The Toro Rosso had sufficient pace on the drying track to hold a podium position rather than simply occupy it through strategy.

Sebastian Vettel recovered from last on the grid and passed Kvyat during the final phase, moving the Ferrari into second. Kvyat remained ahead of Stroll and completed the race in third.

Toro Rosso’s second podium

It was Kvyat’s third Formula 1 podium and his first since the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix. For Toro Rosso, it was only the second podium in the team’s history.

The first had been Vettel’s victory at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. Eleven years passed before another Toro Rosso driver returned the team to the top three. Kvyat’s result also gave Honda-powered cars two places on the Hockenheim podium, with Verstappen winning for Red Bull.

The weekend carried an additional personal dimension. Kvyat’s daughter had been born the night before the race, news he had kept private while completing his work at the circuit.

Toro Rosso scored another podium later in 2019 when Pierre Gasly finished second in Brazil. Kvyat’s Hockenheim result came first, produced by a driver whose Formula 1 career had already appeared finished.

He had spent part of the afternoon at the back of the field. By the chequered flag, only Verstappen and Vettel were ahead.