Daniil Kvyat is due to return to the Grand Prix grid next month after a year away from competition, and Toro Rosso believes that the break has done the young Russian a world of good.
Kvyat made his bow with the team in 2014 and was promoted to Red Bull the following season. However a series of mistakes and mishaps saw him sent back to the junior squad again in 2015.
Kvyat's tenure at Faenza appeared to have hit the end of the road when he was dropped by the Red Bull junior programme toward the end of 2017, and replaced at Toro Rosso by Brendon Hartley.
But after a year spent working as a simulator development driver at Ferrari, the 24-year-old had earned himself another chance to prove himself in F1.
“When a driver comes back after a time away, he has new experiences and a new view," Toro Rosso's new incoming technical director Jody Egginton explained.
"Also, Dany’s time away means he’s had time to reflect on a few things and really focus," Egginton continued. "He is fanatically motivated and he is doing a really good job."
And there's no doubt that Kvyat also brings with him new insights, not least thanks to his time working alongside Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen at Maranello.
“He spent a lot of time in the simulator at Ferrari and that is a benefit to us,” Egginton acknowledged, adding that it also helped that the team were familiar Kvyat's driving style from his past stints at Toro Rosso.
“His feedback has been really useful because he has good references from his former times with us.
"It is nice to have him in with some previous experience, reminding us of a few things, and giving solid feedback."
With 72 Grand Prix race starts under his belt, Kvyat is already something of a veteran - especially when compared with his rookie team mate Alexander Albon, who is the least experienced of the new faces on the grid when it comes to F1 preparation.
Egginton agreed that having someone with Kvyat's experience was just what the team as a whole and Albon in particular needed heading into 2019. "He is a big help to the team," he said. "And working fantastically well with Alex as well."
Kvyat has also been backed to succeed this time around by Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost.
"Kvyat will do a good job,” Tost said this week during pre-season testing in Spain. “If the car is running well, as we expect, then he will also do a good job.
"We all now that Daniil Kvyat is a very high skilled driver, and he showed this in the past," Tost added. “Then he came to Red Bull Racing, and I think everything was a little bit too fast.
“He came then back to us, but there were so problems with our car in those days, we were not so competitive.
"Then he was one year at Ferrari in the simulator, where he got the chance to learn a lot, to get more matured, and he is now back.
“He is more mature. Of course he is also more relaxed. And once more if the car package is good, he will be there.”
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
