Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Daniil Kvyat can emulate team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in 2015.
Ricciardo moved up from Toro Rosso to Red Bull last year and proceeded to outperform four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, taking three victories in the process. With Kvyat following in Ricciardo’s footsteps as he replaces Vettel – who has moved to Ferrari – Horner says he is prepared for the 20-year-old Russian to make errors in only his second season of F1 but believes he can surprise onlookers as much as Ricciardo did last year.
“I think in Kvyat we’ve got a really fast, determined, intelligent driver,” Horner said. “Sure, he’s a little bit rough around the edges – he’s only done 19 grands prix so far – but his commitment, speed and application are excellent. I envisage there will be the odd mistake here or there but that’s natural in a young driver on the trajectory that he’s on.
“I really think he can be the surprise of this year in the same way that Daniel was last year. He has all the right attributes to do some really fantastic things this year.”
Kvyat himself says he won’t set any firm targets for 2015 despite acknowledging he is likely to be driving a car capable of challenging for race wins once again.
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