Kvyat: Podium after daughter's birth a 'surreal feeling'

Daniil Kvyat says that claiming a podium finish only hours after his first child was born is a "surreal feeling".

A chaotic German Grand Prix at Hockenheim saw Kvyat emerge in third place, as he took his third career podium and Toro Rosso's first in 11 years.

The night before the race in Germany, Kvyat's partner Kelly Piquet gave birth to her daughter, which, on the same weekend that Kvyat scored a memorable podium, the Russian described as very special.

"The last race in Germany was an incredible experience after stepping onto the podium again after three years," he said. "It was special because we didn’t have an easy weekend before the race, we didn’t qualify well so it looked like it was going to be a difficult Sunday.

"However, I think I drove a great race in the changing conditions and made good strategy calls along with the team, to ensure we were there to capitalise on whatever opportunity that presented itself. To be on the podium the same weekend my daughter was born is a surreal feeling.

“We travel to Hungary on Wednesday for the final race before the summer break. I like the Hungaroring because it’s interesting and unusual; plenty of slow-speed corners, which is why people say it’s like Monaco without the barriers.

"But it also has some high and medium-speed corners so it’s not really accurate to say it’s a slow speed circuit."

Hungary podium feels like a very long time ago

The Hungaroring was the scene of Kvyat's first podium, when he scored a second-place finish with Red Bull - although the 25-year old says that it feels like a very long time ago.

"The Hungaroring is where I got my best ever result in Formula 1 when I finished second in 2015, but that seems a long time ago now."

"In the past, this has been a good track for Toro Rosso, so the key will be finding a good balance and hopefully it will be a successful weekend for us again this year.

"Although the track is nice to drive, it can be tricky during the race if you get stuck behind slower cars as it’s very difficult to overtake and you might have to try a change of strategy. Therefore, you want to have a very good Saturday and then control things on Sunday.

"But things rarely go to plan, so you must be prepared to be flexible. July is the hottest time of the year in Hungary and it gets very warm inside the cockpit, so it can be physically quite demanding, especially as there are no straights, so you can never ‘relax’.

"After this race, we have the summer break and it will be nice to get some rest and recharge my batteries, but I know that after a week, I’ll be keen to go racing again."