Nov.23 (GMM) Daniil Kvyat says he is glad the season is ending, but also looking ahead to an arduous winter period.
The Russian admits 2016 was not the best year in his career, having started the season at Red Bull, being demoted to Toro Rosso, and only just clinging to his F1 career.
“Yeah, so much has happened,” he said ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
“There were some bad times, but it’s turned out alright in the end,” added Kvyat.
“I can’t wait for next season to start, but I’m also quite happy to see the end of this season. You know the feeling when you need a change, and next year there are many changes.”
The biggest change, of course, is to the cars and tyres, with most experts predicting that laptimes will be five seconds per lap faster in 2017.
That will mean a much tougher physical challenge for the drivers.
Kvyat told his teammate Carlos Sainz in an interview: “I don’t know about your training schedule for winter, but I had a talk with my trainer the other day — wow, there’s really a lot to do to get ready for next year.
“But I like it a lot — it’s an additional challenge to face.”