Max Verstappen, the Belgian-born Dutch teenager who will break all the records when he debuts in the Australian Grand Prix at the tender age of 17 on Sunday, has, understandbly, generated plenty of headlines leading up to the event.
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His team, Toro Rosso, clearly have no such concerns and have been happy to give the son of former F1 racer Jos Verstappen, his chance despite his relative inexperience
But that's the Red Bull way. Toro Rosso is the junior team of the Red Bull empire, the place where budding youngsters get their first opportunity in F1, the chance to cut their teeth and show whether they have what it takes to make it at the highest level of the sport.
Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo also made their name there before graduating to the Red Bull team. And now the young Russian driver, Daniil Kvyat, will be hoping to match Ricciardo's accomplishments having followed in the same tyre tracks.
Kvyat, after just a season in Formula One (in truth he isn't that much more experienced than Verstappen) will strap himself into the Red Bull racer on Sunday afternoon for his first drive in the company's number one team.
The 20-year-old, from Ufa, the capital of the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan – a city established in the 16th century as a defensive fortress on the orders of Ivan The Terrible – made his mark for Toro Rosso last season when he finished 15th in the world championship.
The young Russian – now domiciled, along with his family, in Italy – amassed a total of eight points in his 19 races in the 2014 season having spent the previous year as a Toro Rosso test driver.
It wasn't the most spectacular of starts, but he wasn't that far behind his more experienced partner Jean Eric Vergne, who finished two places ahead in the standings with 22 points. And it was enough for his Red Bull paymasters to gamble on him as the one to step up to the main team as Ricciardo's partner following the departure of Vettel to Ferrari for 2015.
As he contemplates the sun setting on Albert Park on the Friday afternoon of his first weekend as a Red Bull racer he is full of hope and expectation. If he has any nerves, concerns, doubts or fears he is certainly not showing them.
He slips his sunglasses on as the questions begin, fluent in English (as he is in Spanish, Italian and his native Russian) and delivers measured responses in a quiet but self contained manner: polite and respectful about his opponents, but always focusing on himself and the challenges that he faces – not the least the conditions in which the race will be run.
"The light (for the late afternoon race) is difficult but you do get used to it. It is one of the things this race is famous for, the light gets quite challenging and you might struggle for vision, but it's the same for everyone.
"Once you are out there and you are on the adrenaline level you don't even notice it. You might feel your eyes are a bit tired but during it you don't notice."
So much has happened for Kvyet in such a short time that he could be forgiven for having his head in a spin, but he is not that sort of character. Whether it is a reflection of the traditionally stoic Russian outlook, or just the way he is, he sounds quite matter of fact tracing his rapid rise from go karting to Formula BMW and then Formula Renault into Toro Rosso and now Red Bull.
"A lot of things happened in quite a short time for me. In a way it's very interesting, but there is nothing coming without hard work. There were a lot of ups and downs, some hard moments, some easier moments. .
"But I am not thinking about it so deeply now ... you have to focus on today and do the best possible thing."
Russia doesn't have a great history with motor racing, and certainly not Formula One.
The sort of garish excess that the sport has been associated with throughout much of its history was not likely to appeal much to the Soviet bloc's Communist rulers, although there has been much more sustained interest since the perestroika and glasnost eras ushered in by Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s which presaged the fall of the Communist leadership and the transition to a market economy.
Kvyat had no real connections to motor sport as a youngster other than a desire to give it a go.
"My father and my mother don't have any relationship with racing. I tried karting once when I was very young, and I liked it, and I told my family that is what I want to do. I got full support because they saw the fire in my eyes and they trusted in me, and that was very important."
Now, of course, Russia has its own GP and he is the poster boy for Russian F1 fans. And the interest has multiplied as a result.
"Its a natural process. Its growing a lot and that's how it should be. Vitaly Petrov (the first Russian driver in Grand Prix racing) was also in F1 and people were interested, so hopefully now success brings many things and I hope I can bring some Russian fans."
Was he surprised to have been promoted through the ranks so swiftly?
"I am happy and other people saw it (his performances in 2014). That's why I was given the chance to be where I am now, thanks to people like Christian Horner (Red Bull Team Principal) , Dr Helmut Marko (the head of the Red Bull driver development program) and Franz Tost (the principal of the Toro Rosso squad). These are people who give you something only when you achieve something, and that was very good."
Ricciardo is a hard act to follow given his success last season, but Kvyat is not put off by the inevitable comparisons that await after the Australian showed it was not impossible to jump from Toro Rosso to the main team and be competitive straight away.
"No, it's not impossible, we are racing drivers and we know how to drive the car but it all depends on ourselves. I know my ability, it's all about using it, and finding yourself in the right circumstances in the right time.
"I am confident I can race him ... that's why I am here. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think it would be possible. At the moment we are focused on our own things, we first want to bring ourselves to the good level, and then we can talk about other things.
"I am not particualry focused on my teammate, I am trying to focus on myself and my own performance and develop from there on."
Kvyat is too canny to lay down any hostages to fortune, so ask him about points targets, race wins or podium finishes and what he may achieve this year and he smiles but won't be drawn.
"I am not looking to the numbers, I am looking to the possibilities and what the current package can bring us. Just trying to knowing that we can squeeze the best out of myself and our package, this will be enough.
"Its been a very productive winter, especially if you compare it with 2014 testing. I think we have done a sufficient amount of laps, we have done a good amount of work, you always want more, but you can't be asking for everything at the same time. We have come here prepared and are tryng to be in as good shape as possible."
