Infiniti Red Bull Racing F1 driver quotes ahead Italian GP 28.08.2015: Daniil Kvyat: We’ve just left one of F1’s big boy tracks, Spa, and we’re headed for another – Monza.

Daniil Kvyat:
  
We’ve just left one of F1’s big boy tracks, Spa, and we’re headed for another – Monza.


Absolutely. Monza is my favourite track. Every corner just gives you the feeling that you are doing something special. Lesmo I and II, Ascari... every corner. Well, they unfortunately changed Parabolica a little bit. The changes there do make a difference. It isn’t quite the same experience anymore.


You still have to push a lot and it still requires a lot of technique, but the problem is that even if you make a mistake you get forgiven. It’s not the same. But overall the track is still amazing. An important circuit for me in the past and I love it.


Did you race there a lot when you were younger?

Yeah, I won there a few times, in Renault 2.0 [Alps in 2012] and in GP3. In Renault I was on pole and won both races and in GP3 I was on pole, won the feature race and finished second in the sprint race. It’s a pretty cool feeling winning there.



You lived in Italy for some time after you left Russia, does Monza feel a little bit like a ‘home’ event for you?

Yeah, definitely. I lived in Italy for about eight years and I still live very close to Monza, in Lugano in Switzerland. It’s about half an hour drive. I will probably go to Monza on Thursday morning because it’s such a short drive away. But once the racing starts I wouldn’t risk it for the traffic.


Anyway, I love Italy, I love being there and for me it’s like a second home.



Will you have family and friends making the trip up from your old home, Rome?

I’m not sure. I’m pretty focused on racing at the moment, but it would of course be nice. We’ll see how it goes.       
 


Daniel RICCIARDO


Daniel, last week you recommended Spa for the real racing enthusiast. What do you think of Monza?

I recommend Monza for the real racing enthusiast!


As grands prix go, it tends to have more atmosphere than the average...


Oh yeah. It’s the only circuit where you expect to be driving through flares! We had that on the warm-up last year, massive cloud of red smoke at the second Lesmo. Pretty different – but I like that. The Italian fans are passionate – some might say crazy – and you’ll really get your fill of atmosphere. The drivers’ parade is special: they’ll all be there with their shirts off, yelling “Forza Ferrari”. It’s a laugh.


In between Spa and Singapore, is it a physically less challenging race?

It is, because if you need a breather, there’s plenty of long straights where you can take one. Actually that can be a bit of a problem because it really isn’t a circuit where you want to lose focus.


You’re coming into very heavy braking zones at very high speed and you can’t afford to lock-up or lose time by braking too early. You have to be very switched on.



Is braking the big factor in finding a good lap time?

It has been since they’ve made the chicane kerbs too high to ride in an F1 car. Since then yes, braking has become the biggest thing at Monza. It’s very tricky to get that right. You’re coming down to the first chicane at your highest speed of the year and braking for what is almost the tightest corner in F1, with the least amount of downforce.


The car starts to slide around and becomes quite tricky, so getting the braking right is key. It’s really good too...




And how do you approach the weekend away from the track?

Driving. Motorhome. Pizza. Firstly it’s a nice drive from my home – about two and a half hours from Monaco to Monza. Then I’ll stay in my motorhome – but in town rather than at the circuit. Finally, pizza. Actually the best pizza in the world.

I’m not telling you the name of the place that serves the best pizza in the world in case they run out of pizza but they’re in Monza and I’ll be there. Happy days!

   
 
Daniel Ricciardo:
 
It proved a huge success and is already regarded as one of the key stops of the prestigious series along with Hell’s Gate and the Red Bull Hare Scramble. This year, it’s back and bigger than before.


On September 5th and 6th, six-time SuperEnduro World Champion Taddy Blazusiak and 500 other riders will take on a revised course designed to be more spectacular and challenging than ever. “I’m very happy that I will be able to race in my home country again. The atmosphere last year was just incredible!” said Taddy.
 
On August 30th, we’re bringing the full Show Car experience to the city of Kazan, Tatarstan. Kazan is 500km west of Dany’s home town of Ufa in Bashkortostan, which in a federation of some 17 million square kilometres, pretty much makes it next door. Therefore, it seemed kind of obvious that Dany should do the driving for us there.


We’ll be firing up the double title-winning RB7, handing it to Dany and the rest we’ll leave up to him, though we imagine that he’ll be keen to show his home crowd some the skills that have made him the Russia’s most successful F1 driver.


Expect full-throttle laps of the historic square and some immense, tyre-smoking burnout and donuts. Plus the Russian Rocket will be available in the entertainment zone for an autograph session during the day.


Aside from the Infiniti Red Bull Racing action there’ll also be demos from some other fairly impressive machinery, including drift racers, Russian Superbike championship motorcycles, and also the Red Bull Kamaz Truck Racing crew, which is bringing along its mighty Kamaz 4326 truck to thrill the crowds. It’ll be piloted by none other than Dakar 2015 winner Ayrat Mardeev.      
 
  
 
- Red Bull also photos