Raikkonen ‘paid the price’, says Kvyat as he admits to ‘really poor’ Singapore GP

It’s been a strong return to F1 for Daniil Kvyat, one which has even yielded a shock podium in Germany – but the Russian was prepared to admit that his Singapore Grand Prix was his worst performance of the year, as he came home P15 after a number of on-track altercations.

Kvyat was defending from the Racing Point of Sergio Perez on Lap 11 when he clouted the wall on the outside of Turn 16, before immediately pitting, while elsewhere he was seen to lose out in fights with the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll.

READ MORE: Opportunistic Vettel snatches Singapore victory to end barren run

But his race-defining clash came on Lap 50, when he slotted his car down the inside of Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo into Turn 1, with the pair coming together and forcing Raikkonen into retirement.

Raikkonen would later claim responsibility for that incident, saying “I saw on the side of my eyes that he was there but it was too late and we touched” – but nonetheless, Kvyat was still brutally honest about his race day performance, although he remained bullish about the Raikkonen battle.

“I didn’t [do] good overtakings today,” said the Russian. “I had a chance but I messed up every move I did today, so really poor driving. But it’s the first race this year that I can clearly raise my hand and say that I drove very poor, so it’s okay, this happens. Just throw this in the bin and then move onto the next one.

“I think the episode with Kimi was the only episode where he just tried to suicide himself, to be honest with you. A lot moving under braking and he just turned on me. He does this a lot, unfortunately, so today he paid his price.”

Although Kvyat finished out of the points, there was positive news for his team mate Pierre Gasly, who finished a strong P8 and collected his second points in three appearances since his shock demotion to Toro Rosso after the summer break.