Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley is convinced that he never would've gotten his chance in F1 if it wasn't for his win at Le Mans last year, as the Kiwi thinks that his victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe is the most important of his career.
Hartley isn't exactly having a lights-out kind of season, but it is his first full season in the F1 after driving four races at the end of last season.
What got Hartley here was his good record in WEC, but his famous win in Le Mans last season was the breakthrough, he tells Mark Webber on the official F1 website.
"I think if I hadn’t have stood on that top step with Earl (Bamber) and Timo (Bernhard), I think arguably the Formula 1 drive wouldn’t have existed.
“Knowing now that that was the last year of the Porsche project, it was one of my last real chances – well, potentially my last real chance with Porsche to get on that top step.”
Hartley finally got his first point in F1 in Baku, as the Kiwi finished tenth. He thinks this is a product of his growing understanding of the car and the tyres.
“So far this year, I’ve been relatively happy with my qualifying performance, especially compared to last year, when I had not yet developed an understanding of how to get the most out of the tyres,” he said.
“Now, I feel like I’m understanding the car and tyres more and more and that’s given me a lot more confidence going into qualifying sessions."
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