Brendon Hartley claims he “would love to tell the story” about his departure from Toro Rosso, suggesting it was because of his performance.
The Kiwi struggled for results throughout his first full Formula 1 season finishing 19th in the Drivers’ Championship with just four points to his name compared to 29 for teammate Pierre Gasly.
Speculation over the former WEC champion’s future was pretty constant, particularly in June when Red Bull was actively seeking to replace him with Lando Norris and Pascal Wehrlein to give two names mentioned, all of which was bemusing Hartley.
“I mean there were rumours very early in the season which was a big surprise to me when I thought I’d signed a long-term contract,” he told New Zealand radio station Newstalk ZB.
“I came off the back of a World Championship and a Le Mans win and after just 2-3 races there were rumours and lot of questions being asked about my immediate future.”
Despite the drastic difference in the Drivers’ standings, Hartley also believes his performances against Gasly, who will step up to Red Bull next season, were also much better than being suggested.
“I fought, I evolved through the season, there were articles in the press saying ‘look he needs to improve, beat his teammate’ and at the end of the season I felt on top of my game,” he said.
“I built great relationships with Honda, the staff at Toro Rosso, and was consistently out-performing my teammate.
“It wasn’t particularly easy, seven years away from single-seaters, but I was very comfortable with the job I was doing at the end of the year.”
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Even so, the 29-year-old has been axed with Alexander Albon taking over for 2019 and Hartley insists there is more to what led to his departure than meets the eye.
“What I will say is F1 is very complicated, there’s a lot of money involved, politics, and some of the reasons drivers stay or leave isn’t always in your control or for reasons of pure performance,” he stated.
“I would love to tell the story one day. Probably not everything I can disclose to be perfectly honest. The politics, I don’t enjoy, it took me some time to let’s say get used to the extra media attention.
“I was definitely prepared coming into F1 being involved in Porsche in LMP1 but the pressure ramped up more than expected, in terms of being under the microscope more, but I definitely got more and more comfortable with that during the season.”
While frustrated, Hartley concluded: “In any case, I left the paddock with my head held high. I knew I’d given it my best shot this year. I knew that I’d stepped up to the plate when I needed to.”