Globetrotter Hartley's grueling schedule helped by maturity

Brendon Hartley says his age and maturity helped him deal with a massively busy end-of-season schedule in 2017.

As a works Porsche driver, the Kiwi had his routes all nicely organised for the last stretch of his WEC program.

But Red Bull's unexpected call to jump on the F1 bandwagon wreaked havoc on his plans and introduced a period of eight races in eight weekends spread accross four continents!

From Road Atlanta in the US, Hartley traveled to Japan for a WEC commitment, then back to America for two back-to-back races with Toro Rosso before flying to China, then to Brazil, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.

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"I think… probably eight nine years ago I wouldn't have been able to deal with that, the pressure involved, all the different stresses, managing all the things," said the 28-year-old world traveler.

"I'm pretty happy with how I dealt with it, a couple of times I felt very tired and a little bit flat, the last three not having to cross so many time zones I felt more on top of it.

"The team has been great in terms of not overloading me when they didn't need to and trying to keep things reasonably simple."

A beefed-up schedule awaits Hartley in 2018, albeit a more predictable one as his sole focus will be on F1 and Toro Rosso.

"The first race in Austin was a massive moment in my career," he said.

"I knew I needed to not do anything stupid and take it step by step, which I did.

"Now to be signed off as a full-season F1 driver was a huge weight off the shoulders, I'm proud, I'm optimistic, I have the belief I can do it.

"But I'm very aware I have a lot of hard work, and [I have] all the respect for the other drivers, [as they] are obviously very good and are working hard.

"I'm aware of the challenge ahead but I'm excited and optimistic about it."

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