Brendon Hartley says his recent results in Formula 1 are not reflective of the personal gains he feels he has made through the course of 2018.
Hartley joined Toro Rosso for the final four Grands Prix of 2017 as a replacement for Renault-bound Carlos Sainz Jr., and was kept on for the full 2018 campaign.
But he has scored just two of the 30 points amassed by Toro Rosso this season, achieved courtesy of rounding out the top 10 in Azerbaijan and Germany.
Hartley has retired from four of the last eight Grands Prix, with early accidents in Canada and Italy side-lining him, an exhaust issue forcing him out in Austria, and a power unit problem ending a weekend in Britain that was marred by his sizeable suspension-triggered practice crash.
“I’ve been saying it for a while that the best thing I can do is focus on one race at a time and doing the best job I can,” Hartley said when asked about his future.
“I know, and I’m confident about the job I’ve been doing behind the scenes with the team.
“I know I’ve got stronger every race during the season. The results don’t exactly show that, but I know that I am strong and I have been strong in the last five races and there have been a few circumstances which meant I wasn’t able to score points.
“I seem to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time a lot of the time but I’m also looking at myself, and what I can do better there.
“Honestly, I’m just focusing on doing the best I can one race at a time, and I hope that I’m on the grid next year, which is my goal.”
Hartley added that the nature of the Singapore Grand Prix means it acts as a “big opportunity” for he and Toro Rosso to score strongly.
“It’s clear I haven’t finished in the points enough times, when you compare with my team-mate,” he commented.
“Some of that was out of my control, some of it part in my control.
“I’m just focused on Singapore this weekend. It’s a big opportunity actually for us at Toro Rosso. Historically the team’s done very well here.
“Last year they took fourth place with Carlos [Sainz Jr.] in some tricky conditions but if we take the last two races, we think this would be a strong opportunity for us.
“Everyone can see that I’ve been strong in certain scenarios but haven’t been able to capitalise.”
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