Formula One: Brendon Hartley confirmed at Toro Rosso for the rest of 2017
By Asher Fair
Brendon Hartley is set to drive for Toro Rosso for the remainder of the 2017 Formula One season after the team released Daniil Kvyat.
Scuderia Toro Rosso was impressed by the performance of 27-year-old Brendon Hartley in his first career Formula One start in this past Sunday’s United States Grand Prix. In fact, the team was so impressed with his 13th place finish in the race after he started back in 19th that they initially announced that Hartley would be returning to the team to race in this Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Well, that announcement has since been updated. According to Toro Rosso, Hartley is now slated to start in each of the remaining three races on the 2017 Formula One schedule in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
Toro Rosso has had a very interesting season from a driver lineup perspective. For the first 14 races, things were constant with Carlos Sainz Jr. and Daniil Kvyat in the team’s two cars. However, after the Singapore Grand Prix, things started to change rapidly.
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In the Malaysian Grand Prix and the Japanese Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly replaced Kvyat. In the United States Grand Prix, Kvyat came back to replace Gasly since Gasly had to be at Suzuka to close out the 2017 Japanese Super Formula season, which he would have been in championship contention for had the season finale at Suzuka not been cancelled.
The United States Grand Prix is also when Hartley made his debut for Toro Rosso, as Carlos Sainz Jr. had left to join Renault, where he is slated to drive full-time in the 2018 season, since Renault parted ways with Jolyon Palmer after the Japanese Grand Prix.
And now, the two drivers who have been replacement drivers for Toro Rosso in a combined three recent races will be in the team’s cars in the Mexican Grand Prix, with Hartley set to drive for the team to close out the season and Gasly likely to do the same.
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With the announcement that Brendon Hartley will drive for Toro Rosso in each of the three remaining races in the 2017 Formula One season, it is more likely now than it has ever been that he will end up driving for the team full-time in the 2018 season, especially since his potential ride in IndyCar with Chip Ganassi Racing was taken today by Ed Jones.