Mercedes F1 non-executive chairman Niki Lauda isn't mincing his words on the subject of Daniil Kvyat's driving in last weekend's Russian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver succeeded in hitting Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari not once but twice right after the start of the race in Sochi, the second collision spinning the German into the tyre wall.
As he watched Kvyat's antics from the Mercedes garage, triple world champion Niki Lauda was left unimpressed.
"If I were Vettel, I would kill him," Lauda told SkySport.
"Horrible. He cannot drive all over the place with utter silliness."
The fact that a Mercedes was fortunately not involved in the incident changed nothing for Lauda.
"Vettel did everything alright. Kvyat crashed into him from behind. He couldn’t have done that sillier and more annoying."
Lauda's wrath was echoed and even amplified understandably by Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene, who dismissed Kvyat's reason for hitting Vettel the second time, the Russian claiming that the Ferrari slowed suddenly in Turn 3.
Kvyat accepted responsibility for the accident and was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty during the race as well as 3 penalty points on his super licence.
The Red Bull driver finds himself under big pressure to perform this year as his seat may well be up for grabs with both junior bulls Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz waiting in the wings for a promotion.
At the end of the day, another Austrian, and one with the power to perhaps make or break the Red Bull driver's future in F1, may have been equally unimpressed by what he saw last Sunday...
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