Motorsport: Hartley axed from Red Bull - report

Brendon Hartley had been a reserve driver for Red Bull. Photo / Supplied

The murky world of Formula One politics appears to have caught New Zealand driver Brendon Hartley in a vice, leaving his future with the Red Bull (RB) motor racing team under a cloud.

Unconfirmed reports on motorsport websites indicate that Hartley has been axed from the Red Bull junior development programme to which he has been attached for the past five years, ending his involvement as a reseve and test driver with the RB Formula One team.

Joe Saward, a respected motorsport insider whose internet blogs are considered accurate, revealed that Hartley had been dropped.

In an article speculating on a power struggle in the RB organisation, Saward said Hartley was set to pay for his mixed racing form this season.

"On the race tracks he has been having a pretty poor year. Ricciardo is currently second in the Renault World Series (RWS), with two wins in 12 races, while Hartley (below) is sixth, having failed to win a race," he wrote.

"We hear that Hartley has now been axed from the Red Bull Junior Team and that this was done without any consultation with the F1 team, which was happy with the work that he has been doing."

Saward questioned who ran the RB team - either team principal Christian Horner or their "motorsport consultant" Dr Helmut Marko, on behalf of Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz.

"In recent weeks it has seemed that Marko was the man calling the shots.

"Horner said that the decision to give Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber's front wing at the British Grand Prix was his decision, but other sources suggest that the order came from the Austrians. This would not be a surprise. He who pays the piper calls the tune.

"At the moment the team's test drivers are Australia's Daniel Ricciardo and New Zealand's Brendon Hartley. The two were supposed to alternate the reserve driver duties on a race by race basis, while also competing in the RWS.

"Part of the work was in the team's simulator where Hartley is highly-rated by those who work with him. He has been doing most of the work on development of the RB7 for next season."

Saward said Hartley's place in the RWS will be taken by France's Jean Eric Vergne, who is currently dominating the British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin Motorsport.

Hartley was in the RB pits with the team for British Grand Prix 10 days ago.

His management team in New Zealand declined comment this morning.

- NZPA