| Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Daniil Kvyat.png | ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  Russian
| |
| Date of Birth | 26 April 1994 | |
| Experience | Formula One World Endurance Championship | |
| Formula E Career | ||
| Tests | 3 | |
| Début |  2023 Rookie Test
| |
| Teams |  NIO 333 Racing
| |
| Current Season | ||
| Team |  DS Penske
| |
| Role | Test Driver | |
Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat (born 26 April 1994 in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia) is a Russian racing driver, currently competing under a neutral flag, who worked as a test driver during the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for DS Penske.[1] A former Formula One driver and factory World Endurance Championship driver for Lamborghini, Kvyat would first sample an FE car during 2022/23 with NIO 333 Racing, before making his return to the FE paddock at the 2025 Jeddah E-Prix I in the rookie free practice session.[1]
Background[]
Kvyat's career began in karting at the age of eight, with the Russian youth quickly moving out of his native Russia and onto the European scene, culminating in challenges at the European Championships in 2009 and a move to single-seaters in 2010, racing in Formula BMW.[2] After a learning year in Formula BMW, 2011 saw Kvyat challenge for titles in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 NEC in 2011, before taking the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps title in 2012, as well as finish as runner-up in the Eurocup.[2] In 2013 Kvyat moved up to the GP3 Series, twinning that with a run in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, with his GP3 Series title earning him the attention of Red Bull Racing who signed the Russian youth to Red Bull Junior Team.[2]
Russia's Elite: 2014 - 2020[]
2014 saw Kvyat move up to Formula One, joining Red Bull's sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso for the season, with an impressive debut seeing Kvyat claim ninth and become the youngest points scorer in F1 history aged just nineteen.[2] A few other points finishes saw Kvyat end the season in fifteenth, and with Red Bull entering a phase of high turn-over of F1 drivers, the Russian racer was given a seat in the full Red Bull Racing squad for 2015, a season which saw Kvyat become the first Russian driver to finish on the podium in F1.[2] Yet, it was an otherwise disappointing first season at the title pretending team, and after a poor start to the 2016 season Kvyat was dropped back to Toro Rosso for the rest of the season, replaced at Red Bull by Max Verstappen.[2]
Kvyat would remain at Toro Rosso for the 2017 season, although another poor season saw Kvyat dropped to the reserve role for the team midway through the season, scoring just five points before being released by Red Bull at the end of the season.[2] The Russian driver subsequently spent the 2018 season working as a development driver for Scuderia Ferrari, before securing another return to Toro Rosso ahead of the 2019 season amid more shuffling of Red Bull's main team drivers.[2] A strong return season, by comparison to his most recent campaigns, saw Kvyat claim a shock podium for Toro Rosso and thirteenth in the Championship, before completing an almost identical campaign in 2020 in a season heavily impacted by the Covid-19 Pandemic.[2]
Factory Future: 2021 - Present[]
Dropped by Red Bull again at the end of 2020, Kvyat would spend 2021 working for the Alpine F1 Team as a reserve driver, before moving away from the F1 paddock to test out several NASCAR drives, as well as a win in the Russian Endurance Challenge.[2] 2023 confirmed Kvyat's new career path, with the Russian racer moving into the World Endurance Championship with Prema Racing in the LMP2 Class, scoring ninth in the Championship and make his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.[2] For 2024 Kvyat secured a factory seat in the WEC with Lamborghini's new Hypercar team, although it proved to be a development year for the Italian brand, bringing just two points for Kvyat in his first campaign.[2]
2025 saw Kvyat retain his factory driver status with Lamborghini, although with the Italian squad not focusing on WEC, the Russian racer's focus would instead switch to the IMSA SportsCar Championship with the Italian manufacturer.[2]
Formula E History[]
Kvyat would first actively court a role in the FIA Formula E Championship after the end of his first F1 stint in 2017, although talks with Mahindra Racing ultimately collapsed before Kvyat got into the cockpit.[3] Ultimately, Kvyat would instead have to wait until the 2022/23 season to finally get behind the wheel of a FE car, after NIO 333 Racing offered him a seat at the 2023 Rookie Test alongside Mikel Azcona for the day.[4] Using an Italian race licence, Kvyat would end the day half a second off the ultimate pace in tenth, and would get the chance to drive again at the 2023 Rome E-Prix I in a rookie free-practice session for NIO, where he set the seventh best effort but covered the most distance in the session.[5]
Kvyat would move his main focus to his WEC programmes in 2024, although would maintain a keen eye on the FE paddock, ultimately resulting in him securing a return to the test cockpit in 2024/25 with DS Penske offering him a testing role.[1] Using a neutral race licence, Kvyat would get his third chance in an FE car at the 2025 Jeddah E-Prix I, again taking part in a Rookie Free Practice session, where the Russian racer set the fifth best time of the session, reaffirming an aim to get into the FE field full time in the future.[6]
Full Formula E Record[]
Shown below are a series of tables outlining Daniil Kvyat's career in Formula E in statistical form:
| Daniil Kvyat's Formula E Test Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Role |
| 2022/23* | NIO 333 Racing[4]
|
3 | NIO 333 ER9 | Test Driver |
| 2024/25† | DS Penske[1]
|
7 | DS E-Tense FE25 | Test Driver |
- * Kvyat used an Italian race licence for the 2023 Rookie Test.[4]
- † Kvyat would drive under a neutral licence at the 2023 Rome E-Prix I and 2025 Jeddah E-Prix I rookie free practice sessions.[1]
See Also[]
|
See related content on the Formula One Wiki |
| Daniil Kvyat |
|---|
|
See related content on the Formula 2 Wiki |
| Daniil Kvyat |
|---|
| File:WEC Wiki Logo.png | See related content on the World Endurance Championship Wiki |
| Daniil Kvyat |
|---|
References[]
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 'Daniil Kvyat to drive for DS PENSKE in Jeddah Rookie Free Practice', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 04/02/2025), https://fiaformulae.com/en/news/517853, (Accessed 05/03/2025)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 'Daniil Kvyat', driverdb.com, (The Race Media, 2025), https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/daniil-kvyat, (Accessed 11/03/2025)
- ↑ Sam Smith, 'Kvyat will sample Formula E again after Penske deal', the-race.com, (The Race Media, 31/01/2025), https://www.the-race.com/formula-e/daniil-kvyat-formula-e-ds-penske-test/, (Accessed 11/03/2025)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Nick Golding, 'Daniil Kvyat Confirmed as NIO 333 Driver for Formula E Rookie Test', thecheckeredflag.co.uk, (The Checkered Flag, 18/04/2023), https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2023/04/daniil-kvyat-confirmed-as-nio-333-driver-for-formula-e-rookie-test/, (Accessed 11/03/2025)
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