Kvyat: Early season criticism 'not pleasant'
Jul.22 - Daniil Kvyat has admitted to some relief that his difficulties of early 2015 are now behind him.
After stepping up from his rookie season with Toro Rosso to the big team Red Bull for 2015, the young Russian initially struggled to match Daniel Ricciardo.
It triggered speculation the energy drink stable might oust Kvyat for 2016.
"It is not pleasant to hear criticism especially from people who don't know what's going on," the 21-year-old told Brazil's Globo.
Red Bull-Renault's performance issues aside, what was 'going on' - he argues - was that reliability dramas were badly affecting Kvyat's race weekends, just as he was trying to settle into a new team.
At the same time, the notoriously brutal Dr Helmut Marko did not hide his concerns.
"It was very difficult for me, no doubt," Kvyat admitted.
"Not everyone took into account that we couldn't do what we needed on Fridays. We couldn't practice. The power unit didn't allow it. I was sitting out entire sessions.
"Things began to change when the power unit improved in reliability and allowed us to be on track on Fridays. And the results started coming from that.
"I had not forgotten from one year to the next how to drive, and honestly I don't need someone to tell me what I need to do to be faster," Kvyat insisted.
Indeed, both Marko and team boss Christian Horner now agree that Kvyat is back on track.
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