29-year-old driver was once one race away from being sacked by Helmut Marko before reaching Formula 1

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Red Bull Racing are a cut-throat racing organisation and Daniil Kvyat nearly found out the hard way after a conversation with Helmut Marko on his way to F1.

These days, Marko is overseeing the work of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez – as well as AlphaTauri’s two drivers – but plenty of past and present Formula 1 drivers are aware of his methods.

Speaking to Formula 1’s official website, Daniil Kvyat shared some of the details about his journey to the pinnacle of motorsport.

Now plying his trade in the World Endurance Championship, the Russian was one of the most exciting young prospects to reach F1.

He hadn’t even reached his 20^th birthday by the time he took the grid in Australia in 2014.

The 29-year-old spent time with Toro Rosso and Red Bull before returning to the junior team.

Few drivers are capable of leaving Formula 1 and returning which is what Kvyat did with AlphaTauri back in 2020.

However, Kvyat knew it was time to leave the F1 team after just one season but admits he still has a relationship with Helmut Marko.

Things could have been very different though were it not for one race during his junior career.

When pitted against Carlos Sainz throughout his development, he was always under pressure and it nearly cost him his seat in Red Bull’s academy.

Marko nearly ended Kvyat’s F1 hopes

Talking about his journey to Formula 1, Kvyat said: “Especially at the beginning it was tough and I got a call from Helmut [Marko].

“He was like, ‘You know what, if you don’t improve next race, I think we’re done here’, so I was like, ‘Wow, OK’.

“I was under a lot of pressure already. I had to go to Hockenheim and be ahead of Carlos [Sainz], Helmut told me.

“I said, ‘OK, but please change the car to my liking’ because the set-up was the set-up and we just ran it.

“We did it and it worked very well, I remember I out-qualified Carlos and was ahead in the races.

“I think that’s what Helmut really liked about me, because he thought, ‘OK, if I can basically tell him he’s going to be fired and he can do this job, then it’s good’.”

Kvyat will be glad he managed to win Marko over and 90 F1 races later, he’s had a very good career in motor racing without ever earning that coveted win in Formula 1.

The likes of Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz have all seen first-hand how brutal Red Bull can be.

Sergio Perez has also been on the end of some of Marko’s criticism, but at least delivered the team’s only one-two finish in the Drivers’ Championship.