Hartley feeling the heat to perform
Kiwi Toro Rosso driver has just one point to show from first five races I haven’t put a perfect weekend together when it counted.
A quarter of the way into his first full Formula 1 season and Kiwi driver Brendon Hartley already finds himself under pressure to get a big result.
The Toro Rosso driver has just one championship point to show from his first five races and although results don’t necessarily come down purely to his driving, there have been some errors hampering his progress.
He flat-spotted his tyres on the opening corner in Melbourne, got a penalty for a first lap incident in Bahrain with a good result in the offing, had a qualifying mishap with teammate Pierre Gasly in Baku and crashed heavily last weekend in Barcelona during practice.
He’s also shown signs of his undoubted talent — racing a car without the outright speed of rivals really efficiently, managing his tyres and staying out of carnage when others have been caught out.
But the next two races on the calendar loom as the most important of the season so far for the Le Mans winner. Monaco’s narrow city circuit should suit the under-powered Toro Rosso Honda while a major upgrade is due at the following round in Canada, determining how competitive the car will be the rest of the season.
The 28-year-old admitted the first five races of the season have produced mixed performances.
“There have been a few ups and downs — it definitely could be better,” he told the Mike Hosking Breakfast on Newstalk ZB. “There are still a lot of positives and I feel confident in the car.
“I haven’t put a perfect weekend together when it counted.
“We are desperately waiting for our first big upgrade of the year, which will come in Canada in just a few weeks’ time.
“I am also looking forward to Monaco next weekend, it is a track I know well and could potentially be good for our car.”
Gasly has had a similar start to the season but did manage a superimpressive fourth place in Bahrain and he has probably shown more positive signs overall than the Kiwi.
But Hartley knows he is capable and just needs to put together a trouble-free weekend.
“Last weekend I had a big crash in free practice three, which heavily compromised the whole weekend,” he explained.
“I didn’t get out for qualifying so I didn’t get to show what I could do there.
“I had a good race — we finished 12th but no points.”
That sums up his season to date. In this business one good result can change the landscape though and he will be hoping the Monaco track yields a good result and the upgrades at Canada change the balance of power a bit.