Kvyat to race with 'torpedo' helmet design in Russia

Daniil Kvyat will race with a special 'torpedo' sticker on his Formula 1 helmet in this weekend's Russian Grand Prix, harking back to his clash with Sebastian Vettel in last year's Chinese Grand Prix.

Vettel called Kvyat a "torpedo" after the then-Red Bull driver's aggressive dive down the inside at Turn 2 in Shanghai, forcing the Ferrari driver wide and into the path of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Kvyat and Vettel would clash again a couple of weeks later in Russia, with two hits in the first three corners forcing the latter into the wall and out of the race. The incident prompted Red Bull to demote Kvyat back to Toro Rosso for the next race in Spain, moving 18-year-old Max Verstappen in the opposite direction.

While the chop and change had a profound effect on Kvyat, leaving the Russian to spend the remainder of the 2016 season trying to rediscover his form and love for racing, the 2013 GP3 champion has put the incident behind him ahead of this weekend's race in Sochi.

"I would say that in the end, it seems like just some flashes in my memory to be honest because now the situation is quite different," Kvyat said. "It seems like every time I get out on track with the car, it all feels quite comfortable. Every race is an opportunity for us to do well. Sometimes this feeling was inconsistent last year, which I guess is normal.

"But now it's back to me. We're only on race four out of 20, so it's encouraging for me. I prefer to look ahead than behind."

Kvyat took to Twitter on Thursday to unveil a special helmet design for the race, featuring a cartoon of him riding a torpedo in a nice nod to Vettel's comment.

New helmet for the home Grand Prix / #f1 #teamkvyat #design #russiangp #sochi #torpedo pic.twitter.com/2xN73hUYCC-- Daniil Kvyat (@kvyatofficial) April 27, 2017

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