Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Daniil Kvyat would have been challenging for a first Formula One podium had he not spun as the rain fell at Silverstone on Sunday.
Kvyat had been fighting with Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages of the Grand Prix, at one point closing to within a few tenths of a second of the Ferrari driver.
Vettel made a crucial call to pit on lap 43, however, while Kvyat stayed out one lap longer - which proved doubly costly as he spun on the next lap. Without those two setbacks, Horner said the Russian might have had a shot at the top three.
"Dany drove a great race, and all weekend he has done a good job," Horner reflected.
"He possibly could have been in contention for a podium if we had pitted him earlier when he was fighting with Sebastian, and he also spun on his in-lap - but nonetheless he drove a very strong race."
Kvyat said could draw comfort from the fact Red Bull made progress over the weekend after introducing several upgrades for the RB11.
"The team have done a great job and the car is handling really well," he commented.
"We were really competitive today, the race was really fun, a little crazy with the rain, and I was enjoying myself. We will keep pushing to improve and move forward over the next few races."
Kvyat's eight-point haul was enough to keep him just ahead of Force India's Nico Hulkenberg in the fight for eighth place in the drivers' standings.
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