Brendon Hartley was told that he needs to consistently beat his team mate to have a chance to remain at Toro Rosso next season, and the Kiwi believes he's done just that lately.
Hartley finished just outside the top-ten on the road in Austin but inherited a points-scoring ninth place finish when all was said and done following the exclusion from the race results late on Sunday of Force India's Esteban Ocon and Haas' Kevin Magnussen.
Before he was moved up in the final results, Hartley appeared frustrated as he faced the media after the race, but for reasons linked to his future rather than to his P11 finish.
"I am happy with the last races but obviously having to answer questions about my future every week is getting increasingly annoying," he said.
"I've read in the media that I have to beat my team-mate, and I was ahead in Singapore until team orders, I was ahead in Russia until the car broke down, I was ahead in Suzuka in qualifying and I was ahead today, so let's see what happens."
Hartley's words sounded like a clear message to his employer as he awaits news from Toro Rosso on his fate for 2019.
Getting back to his race, Hartley expressed his satisfaction with his day at the office.
"It was a good race, pretty happy with that, did some really good passes, great first lap, did everything I could with the pace and P10 was a bit far away," he said.
"Obviously it's a bit annoying to be one place out of the points and starting last you always think what could have been."
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