Former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat has joined Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean in Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s factory LMDh lineup.
Kvyat will be involved in an extensive testing and development program for Lamborghini’s LMDh prototype this year before making his race debut in 2024 with Iron Lynx in the WEC and IMSA championships. In the meantime, he will race for Prema in LMP2 in this year’s WEC alongside Bortolotti and Doraine Pin.
“I am very happy to have joined Lamborghini Squadra Corse, it is a great honor for me,” Kvyat said. “Lamborghini is a very well-known Italian brand with a great history in automotive world and, having grown up in Italy, this is an additional source of pride for me. We hope to achieve many goals together, I thank you for your trust in me and I look forward to starting work on the LMDh project later this year.”
The deal marks his full-time return to racing after a planned 2022 program with Russian LMP2 team G-Drive was spoiled when the team withdrew from the WEC, a move made in response to restrictions placed on Russian drivers by the FIA following the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kvyat will race for Lamborghini under an Italian license.
“As a group, we are very excited to welcome Daniil to Lamborghini and believe he will be a strong asset to our LMDh project over the course of the 2023 season,” said Giorgio Sanna, Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s head of motorsport.
“Daniil’s main role with us will be working closely with our engineers and mechanics on the prototype car which will debut next year, and given his vast experience in other racing categories, I have no doubt that he will play a crucial part in us hitting the ground running in 2024.”
Kvyat entered F1 in 2014 with Toro Rosso off the back of a strong junior career as a Red Bull development driver. He was promoted to Red Bull Racing for 2015, but after a challenging couple of years was moved back to Toro Rosso, where he remained until 2017. After a one-year stint as a Ferrari reserve driver he returned for another spell at Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri. He lost his race seat to Yuki Tsunoda ahead of the 2021 season, but stayed on with the team for the year as a reserve.
Following the FIA’s introduction of restrictions on Russian drivers, Kvyat’s racing activities in 2022 were limited to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he made a one-off appearance with Team Hezeberg at IMS.