Toro Rosso driver Brendon Hartley now has the backing of Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko after his first lap incident with Lance Stroll in Canada.
The New Zealander was on the outside of the Williams rounding the high-speed kink of Turn 5 when the hometown favourite oversteered into his car, sending both into the wall and Hartley almost over it.
It was another setback on a week of further speculation that his seat is being offered to other drivers but for now, it seems the former WEC champion and Le Mans winner won’t be going anywhere.
“It was, I would say, a racing accident, and has nothing to do about his future,” Marko told Autosport. “He will be in the car [in France].”
The Austrian would then criticise the ongoing rumours describing the “unbelievable stories” about “all the people who say they want to race for Toro Rosso, or they want to put an offer that we didn’t know about”.
Also Read:
- Hartley defiant over future: I know what my contract says
- Hartley admits to different pressure in F1 as speculation over future continues
Given Marko’s history with Toro Rosso drivers though, we know his view could change at any moment and last week McLaren claimed an approach for Lando Norris was made but rebuffed.
On the current situation surrounding their young reserve driver currently competing in F2, CEO Zak Brown added: “If there was an opportunity for Lando to gain experience then that’s something we would consider.
“Lando is a McLaren driver. He has a bright future here, but we do not have an interest in letting Lando go anywhere on a long-term deal.”