Motorsport: Monza keeps Hartley's F1 dream alive

Brendon Hartley. Photo / Supplied

Former Red Bull Racing test driver Brendon Hartley has bounced back from being dropped from the Red Bull development squad and will be racing this weekend in Monza, Italy.

The Kiwi has signed a deal with the GP2 team Scuderia Coloni to race as support to the Italian Grand Prix and the final round of the series in Abu Dhabi on November 13-14.

Hartley was spotted as a talent by Red Bull at age 16 and was whisked off to Europe to join their junior development team.

He won the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup championship in 2007 and was third in the British Formula Three championship the next year.

He has been less productive since then, but Hartley has showed scintillating speed at times and won the odd race and set lap records. He was also chosen as a test and reserve driver for Red Bull Racing's Formula One outfit.

Consistency proved to be elusive, and when Hartley lost his junior team place he also lost his 3.5 World Series Renault drive for Tech 1.

Racing in GP2 keeps alive Hartley's dream of becoming an F1 driver as the class is regarded as the feeder to the main game.

Hartley has been spending a lot of time in Coloni's GP2 simulator since he hasn't driven one of these cars before. Monza, with its renowned Prima Variante and Parabolica, will sort the men from the boys.

"I'm really happy to debut in the championship, even though it will be a big challenge to do so at Monza," said Hartley. "Coloni have been in the championship right from the start in 2005 and they have a great history and a lot of experience. I'm confident I can learn a lot and make the most of the little time I have.

"I will be pushing hard to show well this weekend. I'm determined to prove that I am ready to progress towards my goal of racing in F1."

Hartley will have his work cut out as he'll be up against drivers who have contested all the previous rounds and have a great number of racing miles in GP2 under their belts.

The team is strong and his teammate Alvaro Parente has proved the car is up to the challenge by finishing on the podium in both Belgian races.

The first race is today of 32 laps, including a mandatory pit stop. Tomorrow's race is a sprint over 21 laps with no pit stop.