Daniil Kvyat (P12): 7.5/10
Daniil Kvyat had high hopes for his home race this week, but the Honda power unit just wouldn't co-operate. He came into the weekend already burdened with a grid penalty for an upgraded engine, only for it to splutter to a halt just five laps into FP1. The problem recurred on Saturday morning which meant that Kvyat wasn't even able to participate in qualifying later in the day. That failure forced him to start the race from the back of the grid, to the dismay of his fans in the grandstand watching the Russian's agonies. After all that, we'd been half expecting the Toro Rosso to expire on the formation lap, but instead it seemed that the gremlins on the STR14 had finally been successfully exorcised and he was able to complete the race trouble-free. Starting on the hard compound, most of the places he picked up came on the opening lap where he shot up from 19th to 14th in a single bound, but he also put in some nice passes on the likes of Giovinazzi, Russell and the wounded Ricciardo before the safety car. After that he enjoyed a feisty battle with his team mate Pierre Gasly that came off in his favour. It still wasn't enough for points, but it was certainly a good effort in trying circumstances.
