President Vladimir Putin turned up too late to witness the azure skies over Sochi being turned a dark shade of purple by the foul mouth of a four-times world champion driven to fury by the haphazard intervention of the young man supposed to be the local hero.
Daniil Kvyat carried the hopes of a nation but left his home race last night with a clamour for apologies coming from even his own team-mate after triggering a first-lap crash with a moment of lunacy.
Christian Horner, Red Bull’s team principal, admitted that Kvyat “destroyed” the Russian Grand Prix for his team. Daniel Ricciardo, the team-mate who plummeted from fifth on the grid to finish 11th, said simply: “I expect an apology, put it that way.”
Sebastian Vettel did not hang around the Sochi Olympic Park long enough for Kvyat to offer an explanation as to why he hit the Ferrari star not once but twice in quick succession.
The first time was a nudge through the second corner, but the second contact was decisive as Vettel careered into the wall going through the 170mph, semi-circular third corner. Ricciardo was caught up in the mêlée.
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Oh, the language. Vettel is as articulate as they come and well-versed in the art of English swearing and, boy, did he let rip.
“Somebody hit me in the f***ing rear at turn two, and then somebody hit me in the f***ing rear again in turn three, for f***’s sake,” he said. “Honestly, what the f*** are we doing here?” You get the gist.
Vettel wasted no time marching to the Red Bull pitwall to remonstrate with Horner. They go back a long way; Horner mentored Vettel to his four titles and knows well the German’s temper is occasionally highly-charged.
“Seb said hello and made his thoughts well known and all I could do was apologise to him,” Horner said.
Perhaps Kvyat was too pumped up for his home race. He was not the only one: Kvyat’s name fluttered on a fan’s flag above the name of Ayrton Senna, who died exactly 22 years ago yesterday. Perhaps the flag was a tribute to the great Brazilian, but it could be considered a misjudgment of 22-year-old Kvyat’s potential.
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Certainly Kvyat is occasionally quick and occasionally brave, as he showed when he upset Vettel at the previous grand prix in China when he threw his car down the inside of Vettel’s Ferrari. However, this time, the opprobrium of two fellow drivers was compounded by a ten-second stop-go penalty, which meant that Kvyat was 15th of the 18 finishers — not much of a reason to wave that flag, then.
All season, we have waited for the Ferrari revival and yet it does not come. Vettel was already on the back foot after having to take a five-place penalty for a changed gearbox, but was in combative mood, starting from seventh and aiming for a podium finish. As it was, the honours had to be carried by Kimi Raikkonen, his team-mate, whose third place was the 700th podium finish recorded by Ferrari in F1.
There was one other result of note: two McLarens finished in the points — Fernando Alonso in sixth and Jenson Button in tenth — for the first time since Hungary in July last year.