Russia’s Daniil Kvyat lands new driver role - after changing nationality

Kvyat raced in F1 under the Russian flag but will drive next season with an Italian racing licence.

He is eligible because he lived in Italy for many years, and is now representing the famous Italian manufacturer.

Kvyat might have represented Russian team G-Drive Racing last year when they attempted to enter the series, but they withdrew when the country invaded Ukraine.

Kvyat currently drives for the Prema team in the LMP2 class of WEC. Prema is majority-owned by DC Racing Solutions, who will also be the technical partner for the development and race programme of Lamborghini’s LMDh.

Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean will join Kvyat next year.

Lamborghini Squadra Corse boss Giorgio Sanna said: “We are very excited to welcome Daniil to Lamborghini and believe he will be a strong asset to our LMDh project over the course of 2023.

“Daniil’s main role with us will be working closely with our engineers and mechanics on the prototype car which will debut next year and, given his vast experience in other racing categories, I have no doubt that he will play a crucial part in us hitting the ground running in 2024.”

Kvyat said: “Lamborghini is a very well-known Italian brand with a great history in the automotive world and, having grown up in Italy, this is an additional source of pride for me."

He represented Toro Rosso and Red Bull in F1.