With the European element of the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship now complete, the teams and drivers traveled to Singapore as the championship enters its final away phase of races. For Hartley, this would be his debut around Singapore’s Marina Bay circuit, but street tracks have always been favoured by the Kiwi and the challenge was something he was looking forward too.
 
Despite being slightly further down the order than they would have liked, Free Practice was smooth for the Toro Rosso drivers, with their long race runs showing very positively ahead of the hugely challenging race that typically see’s drivers loose almost 2kg in weight during the 61 laps due to the humid conditions.
 
Coming into Qualifying, Brendon was hopeful that some changes made after Free Practice three would be key to a strong performance. Once again however, the times were hugely close throughout the session, and Hartley would miss out on his place in Q2 by the smallest of margins, and will start Sunday’s Grand Prix from P17.
 
Brendon Hartley – #28 Scuderia Toro Rosso:
“We had a tricky session this morning, but we made some changes and got the car in a better window for Qualifying. It was pretty close to Q2; I had some traffic in my first run, my second run was clean but I made a couple of small mistakes in the middle sector which cost me time. Pierre got me by a tenth and a half, and that was the difference between getting knocked out in Q1 and progressing to Q2. It’s a tricky track, you only get one chance around here. We were very good on tyres yesterday which was positive, so I remain hopeful we can make the strategy work and challenge for points in the race. We were hoping for better pace this weekend, but let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
 
Timetable:
Race – 61 Laps
20:10 – 22:10 (Local Time – UTC+8)
00:10 – 02:10 (New Zealand – UTC+12)