Hartley encouraged by Toro Rosso's aero upgrade

Brendon Hartley claims that the upgrades Toro Rosso has brought to Bahrain are working better than expected. The Red Bull junior team stunned the paddock on Saturday when Hartley's teammate Pierre Gasly pulled his Toro Rosso into sixth on the grid.

Gasly started the weekend with the upgrades, while they were only fitted to Hartley's car on Saturday. The Kiwi will start the Bahrain Grand Prix from eleventh on the grid, admitting that he and the team have been pleasantly surprised by the performance of the upgrades.

"It was an awesome job by the whole team,” said Hartley. “Obviously I’ve been on the back foot only getting the update for today so Pierre got to use that all of yesterday. But the fact we have so much performance is really, really encouraging.

"The estimate from Toro Rosso of the performance from the upgrade was quite small and it ended up being a lot larger than they estimated which is also fantastic. It’s normally the other way. There’s also upgrades planned from Honda, more from Toro Rosso, so it’s really encouraging."

Hartley also described a bizarre incident that happened in Q1, stating that his front wing was destroyed after he hit a bird: "I destroyed my front wing with a bird," said Hartley. "I then put three sets of tyres in Q1 which only left me one set of tyres for Q2 which obviously wasn’t helpful.

"But I couldn’t control that. I didn’t see the bird, I doubt he’s still alive but the wing was also destroyed. I had no front downforce. I told the team we needed a lot more front wing and they told me we had a hole in the front wing. And I was two seconds off the pace. That was a wasted run and then we had to spend another set of tyres."

Replies (1)

Login to reply
  • I would smile, if Ubisoft had given me any lips to smile with, but for now you will have to settle with depicting a smile on my face.

    • + 0
    • Apr 8 2018 - 13:01

AZ Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

AZAzerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

World Championship standings 2025

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
14 - Mar 16 2025
Australia
21 - Mar 23 2025
China
4 - Apr 6 2025
Japan
11 - Apr 13 2025
Bahrain
18 - Apr 20 2025
Saudi Arabia
2 - May 4 2025
United States of America
16 - May 18 2025
Italy
23 - May 25 2025
Monaco
30 - Jun 1 2025
Spain
13 - Jun 15 2025
Canada
27 - Jun 29 2025
Austria
4 - Jul 6 2025
United Kingdom
25 - Jul 27 2025
Belgium
1 - Aug 3 2025
Hungary
29 - Aug 31 2025
Netherlands
5 - Sep 7 2025
Italy
19 - Sep 21 2025
Azerbaijan
3 - Oct 5 2025
Singapore
17 - Oct 19 2025
United States of America
24 - Oct 26 2025
Mexico
7 - Nov 9 2025
Brazil
21 - Nov 23 2025
United States of America
28 - Nov 30 2025
Qatar
5 - Dec 7 2025
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
14 - Mar 16 2025
Australia Albert Park
21 - Mar 23 2025
4 - Apr 6 2025
11 - Apr 13 2025
18 - Apr 20 2025
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
2 - May 4 2025
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
16 - May 18 2025
23 - May 25 2025
Monaco Monte Carlo
30 - Jun 1 2025
13 - Jun 15 2025
27 - Jun 29 2025
Austria Red Bull Ring
4 - Jul 6 2025
United Kingdom Silverstone
25 - Jul 27 2025
1 - Aug 3 2025
Hungary Hungaroring
29 - Aug 31 2025
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
5 - Sep 7 2025
Italy Monza
19 - Sep 21 2025
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
3 - Oct 5 2025
17 - Oct 19 2025
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
24 - Oct 26 2025
7 - Nov 9 2025
Brazil Interlagos
21 - Nov 23 2025
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
28 - Nov 30 2025
5 - Dec 7 2025
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Country France
  • Date of b. Feb 7 1996 (29)
  • Place of b. Rouen, France
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.77 m
Show full profile

Team profile

  • comments 129,215 comments on Honda
  • star 9 members have this team as their favourite
  • vote Tweets about Honda
Show full profile
show sidebar