Happy Hartley hopes for second race
Brendon Hartley is satisfied with his Formula One debut which gave his chances of future drives in Formula One a shot in the arm in the United States yesterday morning.
Hartley finished 13th in the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, in his first drive at the elite level for the Toro Rosso team.
It was an impressive finish for the 27-year-old, who found his pace late in the race improving his starting position from 19th to 13th.
Hartley described his debut as an amazing experience.
‘‘It’s all starting to sink in now and it won’t be until I go to bed tonight and put my eyes at rest that I’ll start to process everything,’’ Hartley said.
‘‘There’s been lots of challenges, lots of things to learn and I hope I get another shot at it to put all these experiences into practice. I’ve enjoyed every single moment of this race weekend and I’d like to thank the whole team for this, it’s been amazing.’’
Twenty drivers started the 56-lap race which was won by British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton extended his lead in the driver’s standings, but Sebastian Vettel came in second to ensure the championship leader could not lock up the title yet.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen turned on the drive of the day as he went from 16th to fourth.
It had looked like Verstappen would get a spot on the podium when he pulled off a final-lap overtaking move on Kimi Raikkonen, only to be handed a five second penalty after the race for leaving the track during the passing manoeuvre.
Engine issues saw four drivers fail to finish in Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg and Pascal Wehrlein.
With Pierre Gasly set to return to drive for Toro Rosso in Mexico next week, Hartley is in a battle with Danill Kvyat for a seat.
Kvyat, who was Hartley’s teammate in Texas, finished the race 10th.
In a positive for Hartley, his best lap (1 minute 39.979 seconds) was faster than Kvyat’s best of 1 minute 40.971. In fact, Hartley regularly managed faster lap times over the final 15 laps.
After qualifying in 18th, Hartley starting the race in 19th once all penalties were taken into account - Hartley was forced to serve Toro Rosso’s 25 grid spot penalty for installing a new power unit in his car, exceeding the limit for changes in a season.
The next stop on the F1 circuit is the Mexican Grand Prix in Mexico City next weekend.