Eric Thompson: Hartley can go back to the real thing

Eric Thompson

Opinion

Talk about grabbing the wrong end of the stick. Ever since it became common knowledge that Brendon Hartley has become the latest New Zealander to gain a motor racing super licence, there have been people jumping up and down suggesting he's now a Formula One driver.

To reiterate (yet again) he's not a Formula One driver. That only happens when you get an F1 car across the start finish line on the opening lap of a FIA sanctioned event that's part of a year's championship series.

In no way taking away from what Hartley has achieved, because it is really spectacular, in a nutshell he has qualified and been found fit to race in an F1 event. And that is what a number of people have failed to understand.

So, when it was announced he'd been replaced as the reserve driver for Red Bull Racing by Jaime Alguersuari, I threw my hands in the air in joy. It doesn't mean he has been sacked or demoted, it just means it's time for someone else to lean on the pit wall learning how it all works. And Hartley can go back to racing.

I would imagine, and he's hinted at it, that Hartley is dead chuffed at being able to concentrate on racing. I would also suggest it must have been extraordinarily frustrating for Hartley to spend time watching other people race and not be able to work on his own game. It showed too.

So far this year Hartley's best racing results have been a pair of fourth places in F3 at the Lausitzring, while a ninth place at Catalunya is his highest finish in the Renault series, leaving him 18th in the standings after seven rounds. Not good.

In his own words he has stated, "I really appreciated doing it [reserve F1 driver], but I haven't really had a good result this year so I need to focus on my racing."

The best thing for Hartley at the moment is to be racing and winning. That will get him a full-time drive in Formula One.