Daniil Kvyat feels he could have won last Sunday’s US Grand Prix if Circuit of the Americas had remained wet throughout the 56-lap race.
Lining up fourth on the grid, the Red Bull driver enjoyed a better launch off the line than team-mate Daniel Ricciardo and gained another position when the intra-Mercedes battle saw Nico Rosberg run wide at the first corner.
The Russian soon swarmed all over race leader Hamilton and even briefly moved into the lead but his lunge on the inside of Turn 1 was too deep and allowed the Briton to cut back through.
Kvyat’s momentum was temporarily halted by an early Virtual Safety Car period, but the 21-year-old still felt quite frisky saying over the Red Bull team radio “we are faster than [Hamilton], so I'll try to get him”.
Things eventually did not quite work out that way for Kvyat, who saw Rosberg sail past him after the restart before sliding back behind Ricciardo following a mistake at the final corner.
While both Renault-powered Red Bulls had been able to keep pace with the Mercedes on the intermediate tyres, they quickly fell out of contention once shod with slicks.
“The opening laps were mega, it was very enjoyable and it was nice fighting, but then the track dried out,” said Kvyat. “If it was a wet race I felt it could have been a victory today.
“It’s easy to say that, but there's no point really, because once it dried out we were an easy target for everyone, which was a bit frustrating. We weren’t able to be as competitive in the dry as in the wet so we’ll have to have a look at that.”
Though no longer able to challenge for the win, Kvyat remained on course for a decent points haul when he spun on the still wet astroturf and heavily hit the barriers on the exit of Turn 19.
The F1 sophomore readily takes the blame for his race-ending accident.
“In the dry, I was driving a bit over my limit when I crashed, I put the wheels on the artificial grass, tried to carry a bit more speed but it didn’t work out and I'm disappointed with myself.”
Lewis Hamilton: Three-time F1 world champion
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