Next fortnight to be a learning experience

WELLINGTON: New Zealand driver Brendon Hartley faces yet another new circuit when Formula One descends on Sochi in Russia this weekend.

Hartley has had to do extra homework on a number of circuits in his rookie season in the championship.

Sochi is one of those that Hartley has no experience with.

‘‘I’ve only ever been to Russia for a marketing event and that involved being there for less than 24 hours, so the weekend will be an interesting experience for me. Therefore, this will be another new track for me and last week I drove it in the simulator.’’

Hartley is coming off a 17th placed finish in Singapore, when his Toro Rosso team tried a different tyre strategy.

‘‘It’s fair to say, our Singapore performance was not what we wanted, so we will be working hard back in the factory to try and find ways of moving forward. It’s a case of hitting the reset button, while building on the positive aspects with the aim of looking for points in Sochi.’’

Hartley is 19th in the drivers championship standings with two points.

He has voiced his concerns about the lack of updates for his car, with the last being at Austria almost three months ago.

Next week’s round at Suzuka in Japan will also be new for Hartley.

‘‘I’ve driven Suzuka on F1 simulators and I did so again last week in preparation for this race, which will be the first time I actually drive the track. I have raced four times in Japan in the World Endurance Championship, but it’s always been at the Fuji circuit.

‘‘Suzuka is definitely one of the highlights on the calendar and everyone in Formula One talks about the track, especially the high speed sector one, where you really push these modern F1 cars to their limit and I expect this sector will be the place where the current cars feel the most impressive.

‘‘I’m expecting a huge amount of support in Suzuka for Honda and Toro Rosso. Being Honda powered, it will be an important race for us and I hope we can put on a good show and deliver some points for the Japanese fans and the all the Honda guys.’’ — RNZ

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Talking it up . . . New Zealander Brendon Hartley, of Scuderia Toro Rosso, is interviewed yesterday beforer Monday’s Formula One Grand Prix of Russia at Sochi Autodrom.