What the world's motorsport writers made of Brendon Hartley's Formula One debut

Brendon Hartley at the United States GP: "in clear air...very quick". Photo / Peter Fox

Top writers cast their eye over Brendon Hartley's Formula One debut in Texas.

1) Telegraph (UK).
"...a strong debut from 24hr Le Mans winner Brendon Hartley to finish in 13th". The Telegraph ranked Toro Rosso as the second best performing team in the race saying Hartley and Russian Daniil Kyvat were fighting for their futures and " (this) showing will be a positive moment towards that". Unfortunately for Kyvat, he has already been cut for Mexico.

2) En.f1i.com rated Hartley at 6.5 out of 10.
"Hartley had it all to learn and never turned a wheel wrong. Knowing he was going to start on the last row, he didn't force the issue in Q1. After a poor start he slowly but surely climbed up the order on a two-stop strategy as well as continually improved his lap times."

3) The Independent (UK).
David Tremayne wrote a piece based around the 20-year-old Belgium-born Dutch driver Max Verstappen, who is seen as the rising challenger to Lewis Hamilton.

"Together with the likes of Esteban Ocon, Stoffel Vandoorne and Carlos Sainz, who are already racing in F1, and upcomers from the lower echelons such as Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and George Russell, Verstappen is F1's future." No mention of Hartley there.

4) Sky Sports
...gave Hartley a 7 out of 10 rating but noted his inability to pressure team mate Daniil Kyvat, who has struggled in the F1 ranks. "In the circumstances of driving a car he was previously completely unfamiliar with, Brendon Hartley did a very good job...with no discernible costly errors along the way.

"But in the context that F1 never is, never should be and never will be, a finishing school, the New Zealander fared less impressively."

5) The BBC's chief F1 writer Andrew Benson reckoned.-
"Hartley made a solid debut...he qualified 0.8secs slower than Kvyat, struggling to get the best out of the difficult Pirelli tyres over one lap, and finished 13th, three places behind his team-mate.

"But Hartley spent the vast majority of the race stuck behind slower cars who he was unable to overtake because they had more powerful engines. And on the handful of laps in which he was in clear air, he was very quick.

" (Hartley) retains the possibility of a Toro Rosso drive in 2018 if he can impress over the final races of the season."

6) Overdrive.in.
"Le Mans winner, Brendon Hartley, did a good job on his F1 debut."