Kiwi king of desert: Hartley back to happy hunting ground in Bahrain

Dale Budge

Kiwi racer Brendon Hartley returns to a happy hunting ground for the second Formula 1 race of the season at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The 28-year-old Toro Rosso driver enjoyed success at the venue in 2015 when he was driving for the factory Porsche team in the World Endurance Championship.

“Bahrain is a track I have some nice memories from, it was where we clinched our first world title back in 2015 with Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard in the Porsche LMP1 team, so I’m really happy to go back there,” he said.

The 5.4km circuit is hosting a round of the Formula 1 championship for the 12th time since 2005 and has previously been the venue for a round of the Supercars Championship.

The desert conditions often result in extremely hot weather although this is a night race and the track is wide and allows for a lot of passing.

Although Hartley has previous experience and knowledge of the track that doesn’t necessarily mean he has a better chance of success there.

“I wouldn’t say it’s my strongest track on the calendar, but it’s one that I know very well,” he added.

The first up results in Australia were disappointing for Toro Rosso, especially after an impressive winter testing schedule that demonstrated improve pace and strong reliability from the new Honda engine.

Hartley flat-spotted a tyre on the opening lap and was forced to pit and eventually finished 15th and last of the classified finishers while teammate Pierre Gasly suffered engine failure early in the race.

But Hartley is confident that was a blip on the radar. “We didn’t score points in Melbourne, but there were plenty of positives from the weekend and I believe Bahrain should be a better track for us,” he said.

“My goal for this weekend stays the same: to score my first points in Formula 1.”

Hartley begins a set of three races across the next four weeks with Formula 1 heading to China next week and then Azerbaijan.