Brendon Hartley
There has already been talk of Scuderia Toro Rosso replacing Brendon Hartley as early as a few weeks from now. He has simply underperformed in his first season as a full-time driver for the team after he drove in four races for the team at the end of last season.
Toro Rosso even approached 18-year-old McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris about replacing Hartley starting in the Austrian Grand Prix, which is the ninth race of the 2018 Formula 1 season and is set to take place on Sunday, July 1. However, McLaren blocked the move. Had they not done so, Hartley may be on his way out already.
In seven starts this season, Hartley has scored just one point. His top finish of the season is his 10th place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the race in which he scored that one point. That one point was his first career point in Formula 1, and it is still his only career point in Formula 1. He sits 18th in the championship standings out of 20 full-time drivers.
Meanwhile, his teammate, Pierre Gasly, has scored 18 points thanks to the fact that he recorded finishes of fourth and seventh place in the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix, respectively. He sits all the way up in 11th place in the championship standings and is somewhat within striking distance of the top seven as one of the “best of the rest” behind the six drivers who drive for the sport’s three top-tier teams.
Given the fact that Toro Rosso have already attempted to replace Hartley, it is no secret that he is already on the hot seat. Unless he can drastically improve over the next few races, he is set to stay on the hot seat. If he doesn’t improve, perhaps the only way for him to be off the hot seat is if he officially gets replaced. If that happens, the only question is whether or not it will happen before the 2018 season reaches its conclusion.