Hartley: Toro Rosso Aims for Points in Melbourne

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12:29, 10 Mar 2018

Brendon Hartley, who is set to make his full debut this season for Toro Rosso after replacing Carlos Sainz Jr. for the final few races of last season, thinks that his team are capable of cracking the top 10 and scoring points in Melbourne.

Hartley and his teammate Pierre Gasly combined for 498 laps in the second week of testing, with the latter ending on an impressive seventh place overall in terms of lap-times. Encouraging signs for Toro Rosso for the coming season? Hartley thinks so.

“Everyone is pumped up and positive,” said the Kiwi.

“The brief from the start of the year was that we wanted to build during the year. Toro Rosso had a really strong start to the year last year and there’s been a lot of changes behind the scenes as well to ensure that we can develop during the year."

“The initial brief from Toro Rosso was that Melbourne might be tough but actually after these test days we’ve exceeded our own expectations and we are definitely in the fight for those points."

“Our goal has to be points. It would be crazy not saying that going into Melbourne."

In the four races Hartley has driven in the F1, he's yet to score any points, with reliability issues being a big problem in the late stages of last season.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	204
2	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	159
3	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	154
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	126
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	103
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	92
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	91
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	60
9	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	42
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	39
11	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	22
12	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	19
13	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	10
15	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
16	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
17	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Hartley: Toro Rosso Aims for Points in Melbourne

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