Hartley unscathed in yet another crash
Luckless New Zealand F1 driver Brendon Hartley says he is ‘‘fine’’ but his car is ‘‘definitely not’’ after a spectacular crash at Silverstone in practice before the British Grand Prix.
The 28-year-old’s Red Bull car suffered a front-left suspension failure, causing Hartley to crash into the track barriers at Brooklands yesterday.
Hartley emerged uninjured but his car was unable to be rebuilt in time for qualifying, forcing him to back of the grid for the Grand Prix this morning. He will start with a fresh chassis.
The Scuderia Toro Rosso driver was taken to the medical centre after the crash but was passed fit to continue racing. The session resumed after a 13-minute delay.
"I’m fine. The car was definitely not fine,’’ Hartley told the Formula One website after his damaged car was towed away.
‘‘But yeah, another testament to the safety of modern Formula 1 and racetracks. Obviously, I’ve had a few big hits this year and happy to walk away again.
‘‘Disappointed not to make qualifying. Yesterday was a lot of data-gathering and I didn’t really set any representative lap time but the car was feeling good before the suspension failed. But yeah, disappointed not to get out there.’’
Hartley has had a challenging season in 2018.
The Manawatu driver crashed during practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, was forced out of the Canada Grand Prix after a collision on the first lap and had to retire from last week’s Austrian Grand Prix with mechanical trouble.
Asked by the Formula One website if he felt that he was due some luck, Hartley replied: ‘‘It would be nice.
‘‘After the third crash, I said ‘Yeah, come on, that’s got to be the last one’. And that’s four or five now. I’ve had a few big hits.’’