Marko denies rumours on Hartley axing

There have been rumblings of Pascal Wehrlein taking over Brendon Hartley’s seat at Toro Rosso, but Dr Helmut Marko has shut those claims down.

Things seemed to be looking up for Toro Rosso for a little while after the Bahrain Grand Prix, as Pierre Gasly somehow finished fourth for the Italian team. They claimed that it wasn’t a fluke, but it definitely was. Toro Rosso hasn’t even gotten close to repeating what Gasly did in Bahrain.

Brendon Hartley has been rumoured to be axed sooner rather than later, as the Kiwi has been underwhelming this season. He’s already on the brink of receiving grid penalties as he’s had to replace his engine parts two times already, the latest one after a hard crash in FP3 in Barcelona.

However, Dr Helmut Marko, who is famously ruthless when it comes to sacking his drivers, denies the claims of the Kiwi being axed.

“I have no idea where this is coming from,” he told German newspaper Bild when asked about Wehrlein potentially replacing Hartley.

According to the rumours, Toro Rosso is looking at the Canadian Grand Prix to replace Hartley. Time will tell if that’s true, I guess!