With Pierre Gasly continuing his Super Formula campaign in Suzuka next weekend, the Toro Rosso Formula One team have opted to call upon New Zealander Brendon Hartley to race alongside Dani Kvyat in the upcoming US Grand Prix, which will take place in Austin next weekend.
Brendon last tested with the team back in 2009 and now, 8 years later, he will be taking part in his first Formula One Grand Prix.
Since his last outing with the Faenza based squad, Brendon has gained experience in many different categories, including the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, GP2 Series and sports car Series. In the last three years he successfully raced the LMP1 Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
In 2015 he was crowned WEC Champion alongside his teammates Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard. In June this year he won the prestigious 24h of Le Mans and he's currently leading the 2017 WEC Championship, with three rounds to go โ the next one being the 6 Hours of Fuji, in Japan.
After that, he'll travel to Texas for his first F1 race weekendโฆ a well-deserved reward that has been eight years in the making: never say never!
โWhat an amazing feeling! This opportunity came as somewhat of a surprise, but I never did give up on my ambition and childhood dream to reach F1,โ he said. โI have grown and learnt so much since the days when I was the Red Bull and Toro Rosso reserve driver, and the tough years I went through made me stronger and even more determined.โ
โI want to say a huge thanks to Red Bull for making this a reality, and to Porsche for allowing me to do this alongside the World Endurance Championship. COTA is a track I really enjoy and one I have raced at recently. I'm trying not to put too many expectations on my F1 debut, but I feel ready for it.โ
