It was yet another hit for Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley in a freak crash in the final practice session of the 2018 Formula 1 British Grand Prix.
The Kiwi has had the most luckless season with multiple failures resulting in retirements and some crazy incidents. In Silverstone during the FP3 session, his suspension broke without any warning resulting in a huge shunt.
The front left suspension broke and sent him straight onto the gravel in Brooklands, cartwheeling into the tyre wall. He came out unscathed but was taken to the FIA medical center for a precautionary check.
The doctors gave him a clean chit but he still couldn’t start qualifying as the team decided to change the chassis. The FIA, however, have given him the permission to start from the pitlane for Sunday’s race.
With another failure from the team’s side, Hartley insists that he has full faith on them to not let it happen again. In fact, teammate Pierre Gasly did start qualifying after few alterations to finish 14th for the race.
“I feel good, I am just disappointed not to be out there in qualifying and to watch from the pit stand,” he started. “Bit of bad luck continues. I feel points were definitely possible from the back of the grid in Austria until my race ended early from a failure.
“I remain optimistic and [I am ready to] fight on tomorrow. Definitely, it won’t affect me and I have full trust on my team to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It happens quick, I was trying to fight the car until it hit the wall.
“Ultimately, I couldn’t steer it to the right direction. In a race, you are so focused, [there’s] so much adrenaline that fear is not really a question mark. I guess it is more disappointment at that time.
“[But I am] obviously happy that there was not much injury [to me] and I was able to walk away unharmed [from a serious incident].” With the mounting bad results, his seat is already under threat for the 2019 season.
Red Bull has the habit of replacing mid-season as well, but with no driver ready yet within its junior family to step up, it seems Hartley will at least see-through the season unless they decide to choose someone from outside.
