Hartley Admits He Didn't Deserve F1 Seat

Although disappointed he was overlooked by Toro Rosso when it came to naming a replacement for Sebastien Bourdais, New Zealand's Brendon Hartley reckons it probably wouldn't have been the debut of his dreams in Formula One. The teenager admitted he knew about Jaime Alguersuari's appointment as race driver for STR for some time, but agreed now was not a good time for himself to step in the series.

Having only a few testing sessions with Red Bull under his belt – because of the in-season testing ban imposed by the FIA for 2009 – Hartley admitted he didn't deserve to be in the STR4 this season.

“I knew some time ago that Alguersuari would get the Toro Rosso drive and I have to say when I first heard the news, I was obviously disappointed. But in fact I think, for me, it would be really the wrong decision to be driving in formula one right now. I didn't really expect to be the driver to replace Bourdais and I feel I don't deserve to be a formula one driver yet,” said Hartley in an interview with the NZPA news agency.

In addition, he reckoned that getting an F1 driver is not always about how good you are, but how many sponsors are willing to back you up for a full-time campaign. It's no secret that two major Spanish companies – Repsol and La Caixa – are paying for Alguersuari's drive for the remainder of the 2009 season.

“There is a lot of politics and money and sponsorship goes a long way when you are trying to get a seat there,” added Hartley.