Our rookie of the year accolade was a toss up between Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat, and what tilted the decision towards the Russian rather than the Dane is the fact that one has been promoted to a top team and the other has been demoted by a top team.
A graduate of the Red Bull young driver programme, Kvyat was fast-tracked from GP3 where he was champion straight into the Toro Rosso hot seat alongside Jean-Eric Vergne.
From the moment he sat in a Formula 1 car the Russian seemed at home. In race mode he was feisty and fearless, going wheel to wheel with confidence and skill that belied his experience.
Although at the end of the season he trailed Vergne in the championship standings, on track he was often a match for the Frenchman who had two F1 seasons extra under his belt.
Red Bull underwent a revolution in 2014, with Daniel Ricciardo assuming the mantle of team leader as their quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel at first lost confidence and then lost interest.
With Vettel Ferrari bound, the energy drinks team had many candidates for the seat alongside Ricciardo and the fact that they opted for Kvyat is clearly a reward for an impressive rookie season at the pinnacle of the sport.
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