Kvyat on rivalry with Ricciardo: 'Then we looked at who stayed up longer'

The Italian Russian was a driver for the Austrian racing stable from 2015 to May 2016, before being transferred back to then Toro Rosso. It was a big deal for Kvyat when he got the seat next to the Australian: "Daniel Ricciardo at the time was like a big superstar, and when I came into the team, he just beat Vettel so there was a lot of hype around him." It brought a lot of pressure. "Everyone thought he was probably the best driver on the grid."

'Personality Ricciardo a bit too much for me'

The three-time podium winner particularly remembers Ricciardo's personality. "My impression of him was he was the man at the time, very funny personality so very attractive for media – bit too much for me – but no, we got along well." As with so many teammates, the two eventually became rivals. Ricciardo had just beaten four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, but Kvyat, who at times was a bit rash on track, was also at times blazing fast. "The beginning was like he was taking things easy, then when he saw that, okay, I have pace," recalled the WEC driver.

Something changed with his teammate. "Then he started also to stay in the motorhome until midnight like me and we were both there sitting, engineers were gone already and we were still there studying the data seeing who would go home later." In the end, Kvyat 'won'. He finished, with seventh place and three more points, above his rival.