Toro Rosso Confirms Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley for Mexican GP
The Who Will Drive for Scuderia Toro Rosso saga continues. After fielding four different drivers at the last two races, Toro Rosso continues to switch things up: at the upcoming 2017 Mexican Grand Prix, it will be Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley who will get behind the wheel of the STR12 Formula One car.
To recap, Toro Rosso began the season with drivers Carlos Sainz Jr. and Daniil Kvyat. Following poor performances, Kvyat was then replaced at the Malaysian Grand Prix by Pierre Gasly, a Red Bull Junior Team driver, who then also raced at the Japanese Grand Prix.
However, Gasly skipped the United States Grand Prix to compete in the Super Formula finale. (How did he do, you ask? He didn’t even race! The event was cancelled because of a typhoon, allowing Hiroaki Ishiura to win the championship with 0.5 points over Gasly).
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz Jr left Toro Rosso to race for Renault, leaving the former with two seats to fill for the US GP. It thus recalled Kvyat from his forced leave and phoned in Brendon Hartley, a former Red Bull Junior Team member and 2017 winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Kvyat seemed rather peeved at having been moved around like an unwanted piece on a chessboard and had something to prove at yesterday’s race. He did rather well, scoring one championship point and finishing far ahead of Hartley—but Toro Rosso is still choosing to put him to the side again for the next race. Gasly will be back, and Hartley will stay.
It’s possible Toro Rosso is merely attempting to pit both Gasly and Hartley against each other to determine which rookie they should keep for next year and field alongside Kvyat, but even if that is the case the decision is still bizarre. Though Gasly and Hartley both have potential, it will take some time for them to get used to drive in F1, and there are only three races left for Toro Rosso to grab as many points as they can—and they are currently in a tight three-way fight in the championship with Renault and Haas.
News Source: Scuderia Toro Rosso
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