Formula 1: Toro Rosso tried to replace Brendon Hartley with Lando Norris
By Asher Fair
Scuderia Toro Rosso approached Lando Norris to replace Brendon Hartley for the rest of the 2018 Formula 1 season, but McLaren blocked the move.
Scuderia Toro Rosso recently approached Formula 2 championship leader and McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris about replacing Brendon Hartley throughout the remainder of the 2018 Formula 1 season. However, McLaren blocked the move to prevent the 18-year-old from doing so.
Toro Rosso reportedly wanted Norris to replace Hartley, the 28-year-old who gave up a ride with Chip Ganassi Racing in IndyCar this season to drive for the team in Formula 1 after driving for them in four races at the end of last season, beginning in the Austrian Grand Prix, which is the ninth race of the 21-race season and is scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 1.
Through six races so far this season, Hartley has not been all that impressive. He has just one top 10 finish, and that was only a 10th place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. With just one point, he sits in 18th place out of 20 full-time drivers in the championship standings. His average finish of 15.50 ranks 18th among all full-time drivers.
Here is what a McLaren spokesperson had to say about the matter Press Association Sport on Wednesday, according to ESPN.
"“We are not surprised that other teams approach our drivers. They clearly believe they are as talented as we do.”"
McLaren blocking this move makes complete sense, as their future is at the front of their minds right now and they do not want to lose Norris to the Red Bull Racing junior team, especially seeing as how it is believed that Toro Rosso wanted to extend what would have been a temporary deal for Norris to finish out this season into next season, when he could potentially drive full-time for the team and become a legitimate candidate to move to Aston Martin Red Bull Racing in the near future.
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McLaren blocking this move makes even more sense because of the fact that their future as far as their driver lineup is concerned is far from certain. There are doubts that two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso will be back with the team next season, and there are even rumors that McLaren will field a full-time IndyCar team next year with Alonso as their driver.
In addition, there are doubts that Stoffel Vandoorne will return to the team for a third season in Formula 1 next year. As a result of all of this, losing Norris, who is the likely replacement candidate for Alonso if he does end up leaving Formula 1 before next season, or even for Vandoorne if Vandoorne leaves and Alonso doesn’t, to a rival team would not be a positive occurrence for the Woking-based team.
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With Toro Rosso clearly looking to replace Brendon Hartley and Lando Norris no longer being an option for them, will Hartley end up improving enough so that he can drive for the team throughout the remainder of the 2018 season and possibly beyond that, or will the team find another driver with whom to replace him? If they do end up replacing him, who will be his replacement?