Marko 'no longer considering axing Hartley'

40

Red Bull motorsports consultant Dr Helmut Marko says that dumping Brendon Hartley from the Toro Rosso driver line-up is no longer being considered.

But Marko - who runs the squad's driver development programme - conceded that dropping the Kiwi had been on the cards until recently.

"If the trajectory had not improved, then we would have had to look somewhere for an alternative," Marko told Germany's motorsport-magazin.com.

"But that's not the case and Brendon is now competitive."

Marko is understood to be impressed with the way Hartley performed in Canada, even though his race had been cut short by a first lap accident.

Hartley himself admitted this week that the rumours he was about to be dropped by Toro Rosso had been "annoying".

“There’s been a bit of noise in the background over the last couple of weeks," he said in a video blog for the official Formula 1 website.

Big crash will have little impact on Hartley's career - Marko

"I was asked a few awkward questions about my future in Formula 1.

“It was a bit annoying but that's part of the business, and I actually felt good about how I handled the whole situation," he continued.

"I didn’t let it affect me, and I just focused on the job I’m paid to do," he said. “Every weekend I feel like I’m getting a stronger and stronger.

“I’m an old fella in some ways. But I am a rookie in Formula 1 and as the weekends go by I feel like I’m understanding more and more the business of F1.

"What it takes to get the best out of these Pirelli tyres, what I’m looking for in terms of balance and set-up from the car. Working with this new team of people I have around me.

"Nevertheless I feel motivated and very eager to get to Paul Ricard which is the next race, and I working hard to make my own luck."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.