Brendon Hartley is hoping for a second chance in Formula 1 having felt he ended 2018 “much stronger” than he started.
On Monday, the Kiwi’s exit from Toro Rosso was confirmed as Alexander Albon was announced alongside Daniil Kvyat, completing the grid for next season.
Knowing that the writing was on the wall, Hartley looked back on his stint which began at the 2017 US Grand Prix and saw him score just four points along the way.
“Obviously I feel like I have unfinished business in Formula 1,” he said. “I’ve finished the season much stronger than I started.
“I had some tough times, a lot of pressure put on and I think I reacted well and I’ve come out the end of the season a much stronger individual, driver, and really happy with my progression through the season.
“I haven’t always had opportunities to score points, sometimes outside of my control, definitely some missed opportunities in the beginning, but I’ve been a good team player all year and I know I’ve very much contributed to the performance.”
Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost believed Hartley’s final race in Abu Dhabi somewhat summed up the main issue he has had, transitioning from years of experience in WEC to the unique demands of F1.
“Of course it wasn’t easy to come here from LMP1, it’s always a challenge to get familiar with everything in F1 and especially tyre management is a big task to cope with,” he claimed.
“Brendon started the race on the Ultrasofts as we decided to put him on an alternate strategy to Pierre [Gasly]. Unfortunately, he was caught in the middle of the first lap accident in Turn 8, so we had to call him in to change his front wing much earlier than planned.
“Then he started to struggle with his rear tyres because of overheating and he ended up finishing in 12th position, out of the points.”