Motorsport: Brendon Hartley plays out childhood dream at Red Bull Ring

Brendon Hartley in action during the French Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwi Formula 1 racer Brendon Hartley gets to live out a childhood fantasy this weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Toro Rosso driver used to pick the Red Bull Ring circuit as his favourite track growing up, playing computer games, pretending he was a Formula 1 star.

All these years later the 28-year-old gets to make that dream a reality.

"This is a big race for us as it's the home of Red Bull," Hartley said. "It's a track I've raced on in LMP2 and I really enjoy it.

"It's a funny thing that, as a young kid, I used to play Grand Prix 3 and Grand Prix 4 on the computer and for whatever reason, it was this track that I would always play. It was known as the A1 Ring back then, so I know it well from being a 10-year-old playing computer games. Who knows, maybe it's because kids have a short attention span and it's a very short lap."

The Spielberg-based track has hosted Formula 1 since 1970 but has undergone a couple of major overhauls since then – the last of which was completed in 2011. Formula 1 returned to the circuit for the first time in 11 years in 2014 with a short but technical lap, which could suit Hartley's Toro Rosso package.

"The place has a lot of history and character and the setting itself is really beautiful," Hartley said. "Although it's short, it is still a challenging track, pretty fast through that middle section and the last couple of corners are quick as well. The straight sections are not very long here, so it's a busy lap with not much chance of getting a breather and with so many laps, it's a race that keeps you on your toes.

"Getting your braking right is also important here. A big part of our job as a driver is the braking phase. That sets up the whole corner, sets up the exit. That moment when we attack the brake pedal and the way we feed off the brake pedal sets the attitude of the car. All these things start from when you hit that brake pedal.

"There are a few tricky areas, notably turn five, where it's downhill braking and very easy to lock the brakes, unlike the turn just before that where you are uphill braking, which gives you a lot more potential because you've got gravity on your side.

"It's all part of the complexities of getting the most out of a Formula 1 car."

Toro Rosso will have a small upgrade to their aero kit this weekend as well as Hartley aims to improve from last weekend's 14th place finish at the French Grand Prix.

The nature of this track should be more suited to the Red Bull-backed team's package.

"I think it's an exciting race for everyone involved at Red Bull as there will be plenty of home support, I'm looking forward to this weekend because we've got an upgrade to the front wing coming."