Daniil Kvyat isn’t about to forget his German Grand Prix weekend that was marked by a chaotic race and his third career podium in F1, all achieved the day after becoming a father for the first time.
From 14th on the grid, Kvyat struggled to hold his own before switching to intermediate tyres, mimicking the rest of the field.
The Toro Rosso driver stabilized his position outside of the top-ten but did not look like a likely contender for points, let alone a podium finish, amid more tyre swaps and the difficult conditions.
But an early swap back to the soft tyre coupled with a few incidents ahead allowed Kvyat to move up the order and eventually into an unexpected top-three finish.
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Verstappen victorious after wild, wet and wacky German GP
The P3 result was the Russian driver’s first visit to the podium since Shanghai in 2016, but it was only Toro Rosso’s second ever top-3 finish, the first of which was Sebastian Vettel’s memorable win at Monza back in 2008!
“It’s amazing to be back on the podium, incredible for Toro Rosso after so many years,” enthused Kvyat.
“The race was crazy and finally I managed to put everything together to get this podium. I’m really happy.”
While he avoided the many pitfalls delivered by the conditions at Hockenheim, Kvyat admitted the race had produced more than its fair share of scary moments, the 25-year-old describing his afternoon with perhaps the best line of the year.
©ToroRosso