Hero Hartley’s endurance is being tested to the limit
Brendon Hartley should close out the World Endurance Championship with the factory Porsche team in Shanghai overnight to cap an incredible year for the Kiwi racer.
The soon-to-be 28-year-old has barely had time to catch his breath since his last outing with the LMP1 outfit, having endured a whirlwind few weeks, making his Formula One debut in Austin, Texas, at the United States Grand Prix and following it up with another impressive showing in Mexico.
The past three weeks have been a blur of plane rides, hotel rooms, media interviews and taking on a barrage of new information to help adjust to life on the sport’s biggest stage.
“I think in some ways it won’t be until I get home at the end of the year that it will fully sink in,” Hartley told the Herald on Sunday. “I haven’t really had time to stop and think about it so far.
“The fact I have just made my Formula One debut, am on the cusp of a world championship, won Le Mans 24 Hour with Earl [Bamber] — there are so many parts of this year that have just been incredible but there are still four races to go.
“After that, I’ll be able to sit back and realise what has just happened.”
Hartley will see out the remaining two rounds this year with Toro Rosso in Formula One and has been tipped for the full-time seat next season but also remains contracted to Porsche.
Porsche will withdraw from the WEC at the end of this season but are rumoured to be interested in a move into Formula One.
Hartley gaining experience over the next 18 months in the sport’s premier category could be a good thing for Porsche longer term.
Hartley wouldn’t confirm whether that was the case but he admitted to hoping he would be contracted by both Toro Rosso and Porsche in 2018.
“I would love that but at the moment, I don’t really know 100 per cent how it is all going to work. There is still a bit to figure out.
“I have the opportunity to stay with Porsche. Basically with all the drivers at Porsche, we had the opportunity to stay on and potentially mix up the programme. That is something I am unsure of at the moment — how that would work.
“I obviously have a great relationship with them and would like to keep that going. They are the ones that gave me the huge break four years ago to enter LMP1.
“I think it was the best possible preparation I could have had to get to Formula One.”
If things go to plan overnight, he will at least finish his time in WEC on a high.
“It isn’t done yet,” he said. “We are pretty close but anyone that has followed endurance racing for the past couple of years will know that anything can happen.
“There are so many variables and they are tough races, so we are not getting ahead of ourselves.”