Kvyat ‘delivered’ in Monaco – Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says Daniil Kvyat “delivered when he needed to” with the Russian securing fourth at last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

After graduating from sister squad Toro Rosso over the winter, the 21-year-old had experienced a challenging Red Bull debut with only 5 points to his name before F1 hits the Monte Carlo streets.

While Kvyat’s progress was hampered by many Renault power unit woes, the F1 sophomore still came under pressure, especially with fellow Red Bull stablemates Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen showing impressive pace at Toro Rosso.

Having already brushed off his critics in Bahrain, Kvyat qualified P5 in the Principality and muscled his way past team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in Sainte Dévote at the start. The 2013 GP3 Series champion then drove a steady race to claim a career-best result in F1.

“I think it was a great race for Kvyat,” said Horner. “He had a good start. His pace was good in the race. He delivered when he needed to, he managed the tyres extremely well and it's his best finish in Formula One so far. So he’s had a very positive weekend.”

With Ricciardo also finishing fifth, Red Bull scored 22 points in Monaco – its biggest haul of the season –, and started cutting the gap to third-placed Williams in the Constructors’ race.

“Obviously this track is the less power-sensitive of all the tracks on the calendar. We’ve managed to optimise what we have got. Renault has done a good job getting the best of their current package.

“I think we’ve got the best out of the chassis and drivers. Fourth and fifth with two Mercedes and a Ferrari ahead… we beat a Ferrari fair and square. It’s as good as we could have hoped for.”

“We managed to score a good amount of points. It’s 22 points we managed to take out of Williams. So a positive result, it’s the maximum we could have expected.”

Click here for a look at some of the best quotes from the Monaco Grand Prix weekend

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