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Brendon Hartley says that he was confident he could have produced a strong result at the Italian Grand Prix before his lap 1 crash. The Kiwi failed to make it to the first turn of the race, as he was hit by Marcus Ericsson seconds after the lights went out.
Ericsson hit the right side of Hartley's car which damaged the Toro Rosso driver's suspension. The 28-year-old has struggled this year, his first full season in the sport. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has admitted that Hartley has to improve in order to keep his seat for 2019.
Following the disappointing result, Hartley said: "I was really looking forward to my first Monza GP. I felt very strong all weekend and was very close to Pierre in Qualifying – even if that meant starting a few positions lower on the grid – I was confident of having a strong race.
“Unfortunately, right after the start, Ericsson moved a little bit to the left trying to pass me. It wasn’t that aggressive what he did, but it was enough to put an end to my day before Turn 1. It’s been a great race to watch from the outside, but of course I would have preferred to be on track and finish the race.”
Toro Rosso is yet to decide on its line-up for next year, however it will bring in at least one new driver to replace Red Bull-bound Pierre Gasly. Hartley has picked up just two top ten finishes this year, at the Azerbaijan and German Grands Prix.
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (7)
Login to replyxoya
Posts: 583
I just can't beleive this guy's bad luck sometimes. It's like he is cursed or something.
juju_hound
Posts: 180
In my country you say Fortune favours the best
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Poor fella is just stalked by Fortuna's evil twin.
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Posts: 1,874
How comes Ericsson wasn't penalized for this blatant attack?
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
We dont know if he will be. But maybe they considered it a racing incident. Or maybe he was caught a bit while trying to dodge that carnage during the start?
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Posts: 1,874
If this is considered a racing accident, than why wasn't what Hülkenberg did at Spa not considered as such?
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Probably because of the severity. I dunno, Im not really an FIA steward, so not entirely sure of the limits to some of these regulations.