Brendon Hartley is set to start the French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard from the back of the grid, following a decision by the Scuderia Toro Rosso team to change the Kiwi’s Honda power unit for the race.
 
Despite some positive early signs in qualifying during the opening series of laps in Q1, traffic and then rain prevented Hartley from improving his time.
 
Despite starting from the back, Brendon is confident that he can enjoy a strong race given the uncertainty around the weather conditions for tomorrow’s race.
 
Brendon Hartley – #28 Scuderia Toro Rosso:
“We’re starting tomorrow’s race from the back of the grid because of the engine penalty we received, but we’re pretty positive because the car’s felt decent all weekend – especially on the long run simulation yesterday. Qualifying started pretty well for me, I think I was in the top 10 after the first run, then on the second one I ran into a bit of traffic. It also started to rain a bit towards the end of the lap, so it didn’t feel like we got everything together. If the weather is as unpredictable as today, there might be some opportunities tomorrow.”
 
Timetable:
Race – 53 Laps
16:10 – 18:10 (Local Time – UTC+2)
02:10 – 04:10 (New Zealand – UTC+12)