Ex-F1 star reveals ‘heated moments’ between himself and current Ferrari driver

Daniil Kvyat has revealed some of the “hot moments” he shared with Carlos Sainz during Red Bull’s junior programme.

The duo spent several years under the Red Bull racing umbrella before moving to F1 in 2014 and 2015. However, their rivalry predates their F1 days, with several minor official clashes including Sainz winning the 2011 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC title over Kvyat.

As they rose through the ranks at Red Bull, Kvyat revealed the intensity that sometimes developed between them in an interview with Formula1.com. “Carlos and I are very good friends today, but we had fun times when we were in the team,” Kvyat said. “We traveled a lot together, sometimes we called in the yard, and sometimes the fathers said: “Children, calm down!” I had to say.

“During the GP3 season, Helmut told us, ‘OK, there’s an F1 seat on the table, whoever does the best gets that seat’ and that became very important.” I remember the round in Belgium. I started 1st and 2nd, I was tied on points and should have won. I won and Carlos crashed giving me a big points lead. “At the time, the European F3 championship was still running with a slightly different car. Helmut wanted me to do some series races and do well in both cars and I started to win. I remember running at the Red Bull Ring. It was a very important step because I was close to Helmut and I came to say hello and I got 3 out of 3 pole positions.

“Carlos sensed it then and told Helmut that he would take part in the Renault World Series to show that he could do well in both cars. So I’ve been through a lot. He won the GP3 title and before the last race he was offered a Toro Rosso contract for 2014. At the time signing autographs was a big achievement.