Daniil Kvyat’s second stab at the top flight is destined to end when the lights go out at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, despite occasional flashes of brilliance have not done enough to convince Red Bull he belongs in Formula 1 next year.
Indeed Honda protege Yuki Tsunoda lingering with intent, suggesting Daniil is set to be shown the door at the end of the season unless there is an unexpected about-turn in the Red Bull-pen.
For the umpteenth time, the AlphaTauri driver was asked about his future, this time ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, to which he replied, “I said already, many times, the chances of me being here next year are very slim. It will depend on a very particular scenario.
“I’m kind of already with my mind just focusing on these three races here and not really thinking too much about the future. I’m just going to give my best to this team these next few races, and then we will see, you know.
“They deserve me, you know, thinking about these three races and staying focus here, because in the end this year, there was a lot of ups and downs, but lately it’s been going better and better.”
It’s been a topsy-turvy F1 career for the 26-year-old from Ufa, making his debut for Toro Rosso in 2014, but an ill-timed promotion to Red Bull in 2016 had him replaced in the team by Max Verstappen.
At the end of 2017, he was unceremoniously stitched from the programme, with Helmut Marko claiming at the time that the partnership between driver and team was kaput. The Russian found refuge as part of the Ferrari programme.
But in 2018, with Marko’s pipeline dry of drivers with F1 capabilities, Red Bull came calling again in the form of Toro Rosso (again) which this year transformed into AlphaTauri.
But this season he has been comprehensively beaten by teammate Pierre Gasly who, in turn, was similarly destroyed by Max.
Daniil continued, “I was been called to this team because they needed me here for 2019 and 2020. That was my target of trying to do a good job for this team in these two years, and then… we agreed, that we would see what the future holds.
“So far I feel like last year and this year, yeah, I have been doing my best for this team. And it’s been working very well. I am very happy.
“If it has to happen that it’s my last season in F1, then you look on it from a bright side. You know, that it’s been – what is it, 110 or something races, a few podiums and other strong races – of course, it’s not bad.
“But of course, I always wanted to have a proper fight for the world championship as a driver. And this is why I will always have more hunger, you know.
“Regardless, I will always try to come back and have another shot. And as my career shows you can always have a shot again, if you’re in the right place in the right time,” added Daniil who lies 14th in the drivers’ championship with three races remaining.