During his time in Formula 1, former Red Bull player Daniil Kvyat became a celebrity on the track for his recklessness on the race track.
His antics and ruthless style culminated during an incident with Sebastian Vettel at the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix.
5
This infamous incident saw the Russian car brand ‘The Torpedo’ having an altercation with the German star in the driver’s room after the race.
Vettel exploded after an on-track collision between him and Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen at the first turn of the race, which he felt was Kivat’s fault.
The drama began as soon as the lights went out, with Vettel starting from fourth on the grid, while Kvyat was two places back in sixth.
Within moments of the race starting, Vettel found himself pitted against a teammate entering from the long right-hander, leaving the door open for the invader Kvyat who came flying in from the inside.
Vettel was cornered, and in a split second he chose to avoid the ‘torpedo’, but in doing so he eliminated his teammate.
Räikkönen suffered significant damage when he spun off, losing his front wing in the process.
The German was quick to blame Kvyat on team radio and complained that the Russian was “mad” over the “suicidal” move.
However, the stewards decided that they would not take any action against either driver as they considered this to be a racing accident.
5
5
5
Vettel was able to recover and take second place in the race, passing Kvyat in the process, while his teammate Räikkönen finished fifth.
The drama did not end there, as Vettel’s anger worsened in the driver’s room.
He said angrily: “You came like a torpedo!”
Kvyat laughed and replied: “I was racing,” but Vettel replied: “Yes, I am racing, but if I continue on the same line, we will collide.”
The Russian defended himself again, saying: “But we did not collide.”
Before an unhappy Vettel finished: “Yes, you didn’t…”
On the podium, Kivat continued to support himself as well.
“If you see the gap, go inside it. It was a risky move… but you have to take the risk and I’m on the podium,” which is hard to argue with in Formula 1.
5
Meanwhile, in another post-race conversation, Vettel was asked about the incident, saying: “It went wrong, that’s what happened. If you collide with your teammate, you won’t be happy.”
The pair eventually mended the broken respect they had for each other as they shared the stage and bottles of champagne.
We think things might not be so friendly if a similar accident between drivers occurs this weekend in China.
