Junior Formula Series
GP3 - Daniil Kvyat takes title - Yas Marina victory – Sainz unlucky 9th
Daniil Kvyat won the 2013 GP3 championship with victory in the penultimate race of the season at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Daniil Kvyat (RUS - MW Arden)
Race 1: Grid 1 – Result 1 – GP3 Champion
Carlos Sainz Jr. (ESP - MW Arden)
Race 1: Grid 6 – Result 9
The 19-year-old Russian set off from pole and was never seriously threatened while fellow Red Bull Junior and MW Arden team mate Carlos Sainz Jr. finished 9th after a typically spirited drive from a rather unfair 6th on the grid and a collision during the race.
Kvyat is riding an unbelievable high at the moment having already been chosen for an F1 seat at Scuderia Toro Rosso next season. He ignored such thoughts as he concentrated on the end of his GP3 season. Seven points behind in the title chase coming into the weekend he cut that to three with the four points he scored for pole. Then he stole the title with a race maximum that included 25 for victory and two for the fastest lap.
End of season domination - Kvyat
“It was a nice race, we dominated really, no problems at all, I enjoyed every lap, every corner and then they told me over the radio that we had won the championship. That was fantastic, what a great feeling. I really have to thank the team, they did a fantastic job all year. The championship is as much about them as anything.”
Things hadn't always looked that good this season. The first weekend of the year in Barcelona resulted in a 20th place finish in Race 1 and a DNF in Race 2. “It wasn't an easy start, we did struggle very much at the first race, we seemed to have lost our way with the car and just didn't have the speed and the understanding of the tyres and setup we needed. I didn't have confidence in the car and I admit that I didn't think then that winning the championship was a possibility.”
Spa victory the turning point
Things soon looked brighter but it wasn't until Race 11 of the 16 at Spa that Kvyat scored his first win. “We were lucky that there was the test in Hungary because there we could try a lot of things and we understood the tyres and car better and from then on things improved.”
“After Spa was really when I started to believe that we could win the championship. It really did seem possible and thanks to all the hard work the team put in the car just got better and better so that we came here quite confident. That continued through practice and qualifying.”
He had backed the Spa victory with another win in Monza so Yas Marina Race 1 was his third win of the year. It will take another exceptional piece of concentration for Kvyat going into Race 2 on Sunday morning. “Of course there is another race tomorrow but I have to admit I have now started to think about next year. I am not going to make any predictions, I always think that they are pointless. I have no expectations, of course it is a great new adventure, I have to start working with the team and the car, find out what is possible and what the limits are.”
The run of misfortune continues for Sainz
It has been a very different Abu Dhabi weekend for Sainz so far. “Not a good race,” admitted the Madrid native. “It really started in qualifying when I had my best time cancelled because they said I exceeded the track limits. We had a look on the video and it was clear that I didn't. So we went to the stewards with a protest. They reviewed the video and agreed that I didn't but they just said, 'sorry we can't change it now'. So that was a bit of a joke... I started 6th.”
“I made a good start, got up to fourth, was trying to go for third but got pushed wide. That lost me some time and I had to work at getting back. I caught Niederhauser but then we touched through turn 11 and I got spun around. I have just been speaking to him and he's not upset with me, we agreed it was very bad luck, we were going wheel and didn't think it was going to result in an accident,” concluded Sainz. Niederhauser was out of the race but Sainz finished ninth with a damaged car.
