Daniil Kvyat thought that his move on Sebastian Vettel was fair, after Vettel made contact with both Kvyat and teammate Kimi Raikkonen on the first lap.
Both the Ferrari drivers and Kvyat behind got good starts, and the Russian sensed an opportunity to pass Vettel by diving into the inside of turn two. Stuck between him and his teammate, Vettel made contact with both of them, with Raikkonen having to pit at the end of the first lap for a new front wing.
He was up there in the podium battle for the duration of the Chinese Grand Prix, finishing third after his teammate Daniel Ricciardo had a puncture on lap four.
“I really enjoyed the race today. Our pace was very strong and to get this result at this track where we didn’t expect to be so strong is really great,” Kvyat said in a post-race interview. “The car is performing really well, the chassis is easy to drive and with further upgrades coming to the power unit, we should be in an even stronger position.”
The Russian is currently seventh in the Driver’s Championship, retiring in the Australian Grand Prix and finishing seventh in the Bahrain Grand Prix. His teammate Ricciardo has finished fourth in all three races, and is currently third in the standings.
With the first lap drama a big talking point for the race, Kvyat defended his move on Vettel:
“I think it was a fair move on Vettel. I saw the gap and I went for it. We didn’t touch, unfortunately for him, Kimi was on his other side. For me it was a logical move and it paid off with a podium.
“It’s a nice boost for our side of the garage after a couple of tricky races. It’s also good for the team to be consistently fighting for podiums this year. It’s very encouraging for the season.”
The next Formula 1 Grand Prix will be Kvyat’s home race in Russia, and he will be hoping that Red Bull can keep their good form going.
