Starting the Brazilian Grand Prix from 16th was never going to be easy for Brendon Hartley but a strong race has seen him finish in 11th, just outside the points but ahead of team mate Pierre Gasly who started in ninth.
“That was a really good race for me, it’s annoying you don’t get to score points as a reward, but there weren’t any retirements at the front to capitalise on,” commented Hartley. “I started on the harder compound so it was a bit tricky for me during the first few laps, but still I had a strong start and made some good overtakes.
“To make our race work, I knew I would have to keep the tyres alive as long as possible on the first stint, I had great feedback from the pit wall and the strategy worked well. I felt this was one of the best performances of my F1 career but without the reward of points. The team will work hard over the next weeks to understand why we had such good race pace in Mexico, but struggled two weeks later here in Brazil.”
Hartley’s Scuderia Toro Rosso team mate Pierre Gasly finished behind in 13th. “I had some good battles today, but it was a tough race. I had a good start and got to P8, but after that we clearly were suffering compared to our direct competitors.
“I tried to fight as much as I could but we clearly didn’t have the pace for points today. We knew Brazil would be difficult, but after the performance we showed in Mexico we were a bit more optimistic, so in the end we’re a bit disappointed with the way the race unfolded. Now there’s one race left of the season so hopefully we can finish on a high!”
Despite Hartley’s strong showing, team principal Franz Tost seemed more focused on the disappointment of Gasly’s 13th place finish. “We started the race with Pierre in ninth position and finished only 13th, so it wasn’t a satisfying result for us,” said Tost. “The race pace wasn’t there and we were simply too slow so we have to analyse why.
“Brendon started from 16th with the Medium tyre, and we pitted him very late to switch to the Supersoft which was a very good move, because he was able to increase his pace towards the end of the race. However, unfortunately we weren’t able to score points today.”
Comments