Kvyat almost gave up on F1 before Ferrari test role

Daniil Kvyat has revealed he considered “stopping completely” and giving up on his Formula 1 dream before being offered a transformative test role by Ferrari.

Having already suffered a promotion to Red Bull and subsequent demotion back to Toro Rosso in the space of a year, Kvyat was dropped altogether at the end of the 2017 season.

The Russian was subsequently signed by Ferrari as one of its development drivers in 2018 and his impressive work for the Italian team prompted Red Bull to give him another chance as he returned to the Toro Rosso fold - now renamed AlphaTauri - last season partner F1 rookie Alex Albon.

Kvyat said his maiden test outing with Ferrari at Fiorano inspired him to want to “come back at any cost” to F1.

“That was very emotional for me, because it is a Ferrari, in Fiorano,” Kvyat said on the F1 podcast Beyond The Grid.

“It was really cool. I hadn't driven anything for six months or something, and I was enjoying it so much.

“That day I understood that I wanted to come back at any cost to Formula 1, because this is what I want to do, this is what I am best at. Also, that test was very strong, very consistent and good lap times. Everyone was quite happy.

“I felt I had a lot of unfinished business in Formula 1,” he added. “There was talks in different areas, but I always wanted [to drive] in Formula 1. I was considering stopping completely if I didn’t get a Formula 1 deal again.”

Kyvat admitted he was “very nervous” ahead of his first drive in Ferrari machinery despite having four seasons of F1 experience under his belt at Toro Rosso and Red Bull.

"I remember I was very nervous at breakfast,” he explained.

"I thought: ‘Okay, just try not to spin on the outlap’, because I hadn’t driven a car for a while and I was a bit worried. But luckily I went on track and I just started to brake later and later and that was good.

"I felt like I needed the break after not so easy times. It was very nice in a way to spend some time at home, to just do training to clear your head and sometimes do nothing.

“I still had a job that I enjoyed in a way as a development driver for Ferrari and I like Italian teams very much. Ferrari has a huge history.

"It wasn’t the job that I wanted, but I felt that I was giving the result to the team and I was helping to develop the car. They felt that I was doing my best for them and it felt very satisfying to do that job in a way."