What a wonderful country we live in. Just when you think our list of top motorsport stars can’t get any longer, suddenly we have been catapulted into the magic world of Formula One, with the news that Palmerston North’s Brendon Hartley has already driven two races for Toro Rosso team, with very strong potential for a whole season next year.
Brendon’s race debut in the US with Toro Rosso ended with a solid 13th place after starting at the back of the grid due to an engine swap penalty. His second race, in Mexico, came to a fiery end when the car suddenly lost power while he was placed 11th, just out of the points, and burst into flames when he stopped the car.
Now, Toro Rosso Team principal Franz Tost says both Hartley and fellow rookie Pierre Gasly are likely to be retained as Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso's Formula 1 line-up next season.
"We want to test them for the rest of the season because there is a high possibility that this will be the driver line-up for 2018," says Tost.
Watch this space!
How good is Brendon?
He started his racing career at the age of six, in karts. It’s a path taken by so many F1 drivers, including the great Michael Schumacher. Karts led to Formula Ford, and after a series of wins there he dived into the deep end by moving to Germany to race a 2-litre Formula Renault in the German and European Championships, eventually being crowned champion in the 2007 World Series by Renault.
The following year he moved to Formula 3, and that move, and his continuing race-winning performances in Formula Renault, put him in front of a lot of talent scouts, especially Red Bull, which signed him up. His first foray into F1 was back in 2008, as a test driver standing in for the injured Mark Weber.
He became reserve driver for Red Bull in 2009 and 2010, and in 2012 drove 87 laps of testing for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team.
So he’s no stranger to F1 race cars. All he needs now is time and opportunity. Go Brendon.
