Brendon Morris Hartley (born 10 November 1989) is a New Zealand

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

, who competes in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

for

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

. Hartley competed in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

from to . In endurance racing, Hartley has won a joint-record four FIA World Endurance Championship titles—tied with Sébastien Buemi—and is a three-time winner of the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

. He won the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, alongside his teammates Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard, and also went on to win the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship alongside Bernhard and

Earl Bamber Earl Anderson Bamber (born 9 July 1990) is a New Zealand professional racing driver and racing team owner who currently competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship for Cadillac Hertz Team Jota and Ca ...

. He won the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans with Bamber and Bernhard, the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans with Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, and the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans with Buemi and Ryō Hirakawa. He formerly competed in

for Scuderia Toro Rosso, making his debut at the 2017 United States Grand Prix.

Early career

Hartley was born in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

in a family well integrated within motorsport. His father, Brian, had raced in many forms of motorsport, including Formula Atlantic. At the age of six, Hartley began his motor racing career in

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

, following in his brother Nelson's footsteps. Six years later, he competed in his first full-scale race championship, competing in the Formula First category. Hartley finished the season in seventh. In 2003, he won that year's New Zealand

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

Festival which resulted in him getting a drive for the following year's Formula Ford championship. In a car his brother had used the previous year, he started four races and won two of them. After a season in Formula Toyota New Zealand, Hartley moved to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, competing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup (NEC). He finished 14th and 10th in the Drivers' Championship in the Eurocup and North European Cup respectively, taking a podium position at Anderstorp in the latter. In his second year in Formula Renault, he stayed in the Eurocup, but moved from the NEC to the Italian championship. He took three wins in the Eurocup and three podiums in the Italian championship, and took the championship title in the Eurocup. In 2007 Hartley also made his

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

debut in the

Masters of Formula 3 The Masters of Formula 3 was a Formula Three race held annually, usually at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Due to noise restrictions in the Zandvoort area, the 2007 and 2008 races were held in the Belgian circuit of Circuit Zolder, ...

at Zolder event, finishing 4th. This resulted in a test with A1 Team New Zealand and the role of the rookie driver for the series. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he competed in the British Formula 3 Championship for Carlin Motorsport, winning five times, and eventually finished the championship in third. He also competed in eight races in the Formula Three Euroseries for Carlin and RC Motorsport, and achieved two finishes in the points, although he was ineligible for points. In non-championship races, Hartley finished fifth at the

, and third at the Macau Grand Prix. After crashing in the qualification race, he started 20th on the grid and recorded the fastest race lap. He stayed with Carlin for the full F3 Euroseries in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, finishing eleventh despite missing two rounds due to Formula Renault 3.5 Series commitments. In that series, Hartley competed for the defending champion Tech 1 Racing team, and ended fifteenth in the championship. He was signed at Tech 1 for a full season of Formula Renault 3.5 in 2010, where he was partnered by Australian and fellow Red Bull Junior driver, Daniel Ricciardo. During the series' summer break it was announced that Hartley had been dropped from the Red Bull Junior Team. His seat was taken by British Formula 3 championship leader Jean-Éric Vergne. Despite the loss of his Red Bull backing, Hartley made his

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

début at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

in September, replacing Vladimir Arabadzhiev at the Coloni team. He scored a point in the season finale at Yas Marina to place 27th in the championship. For 2011, Hartley returned to Formula Renault 3.5, driving alongside Jan Charouz for the Gravity–Charouz Racing team. He also returned to GP2 for the eighth round of the series at Spa-Francorchamps, replacing Kevin Mirocha and driving alongside Johnny Cecotto Jr. in the

Ocean Racing Technology Ocean Racing Technology (ORT) was a racing team that took part in both the GP2 Main Series and the GP2 Asia Series Championships. The team, owned by Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes, was formed at the end of the 2008 season after being purchased ...

team, for whom he had tested before the start of the season. He finished in fifth place in his first race with the team, and 19th in the overall championship. Hartley began the 2012 season without a drive, but returned to Ocean for the second round of the championship in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

in place of Jon Lancaster. After the two rounds in Bahrain, he was in turn replaced by Víctor Guerin. He finished 25th in the championship.

Sportscar career (2012-17)

With no suitable single-seater drives available, Hartley joined the Murphy Prototypes sportscar team, which was competing in the LMP2 class in the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

. Following the cancellation of the second round of the ELMS championship (which would have been Hartley's début event) and the series' future in doubt, Murphy was one of several ELMS teams invited to compete as a guest entry in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, a round of the

. Driving the team's Oreca 03-

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

, Hartley finished third in the LMP2 class with teammates Warren Hughes and Jody Firth. The trio teamed up again for the

, but retired from the race. The Kiwi remained with Murphy for the following year's ELMS season, whilst also signing on for a campaign at Starworks Motorsport in the US-based

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

. He scored a win apiece in both championships, with his impressive pace being proven by four fastest laps across the ELMS season. Ahead of the 2014 season,

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

announced Hartley as a factory driver, a duty he would fulfill by driving a Porsche 919 Hybrid in the WEC. Over the next four years, he won the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship. He also won the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans and placed second in

sharing the car with drivers including Timo Bernhard, former Formula One driver Mark Webber and fellow Kiwi

Formula One

Red Bull Racing (2008–2010)

In February 2008, aged 18, Hartley got his first taste of

. He was invited to perform a show run for

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in ...

in Riyadh. From here he performed the initial three-day shake-down test for Scuderia Toro Rosso's 2008 spec car, the STR3. In November 2008, it was announced he would be providing cover for Mark Webber, who had broken his leg in a cycling accident, by performing testing duties alongside permanent test driver Sébastien Buemi for Red Bull in the 2008 RB4 F1 car. For the season, Hartley was appointed as official reserve driver for both the

and Scuderia Toro Rosso teams. However, unable to get his mandatory superlicence approved until April 2009, he was replaced in this role by retired F1 driver David Coulthard for the first races in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and Sepang. Hartley made his debut as reserve and test driver at the Spanish Grand Prix on 8 May. He was the first New Zealander to achieve F1 driver status since Mike Thackwell in 1984. He was replaced in the role by fellow Red Bull Junior driver

Jaime Alguersuari Jaime Víctor Alguersuari Escudero (; born 23 March 1990), also known by his stage name Squire, is a Spanish former racing driver, sports broadcasting, broadcaster and DJ, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Barcelona, Al ...

for the second half of the season. However Hartley did not return to the reserve driver role with Red Bull and Toro Rosso following Jaime Alguersuari's promotion to a race seat, preferring to focus on his F3 and Renault World Series. David Coulthard again took over the role. For the season, Hartley was again appointed official reserve driver for both

and Scuderia Toro Rosso. He shared the reserve driver duties with his Formula Renault 3.5 teammate, Australian Daniel Ricciardo. The two drivers shared the duties on a race-by-race basis until round six of the championship. Following this race, Hartley's support from Red Bull was dropped, based on the fact he had not won a race in his season and a half in the championship. On 13 September 2012, he participated in the young driver test at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is o ...

. He drove 87 laps for Mercedes on the final day, setting the third quickest time behind Jules Bianchi (

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

) and Rodolfo González ( Force India).

Mercedes (2012–2013)

Hartley said that the simulator development work and the test drive with Mercedes would give him a new opportunity to get back into Formula One.

Toro Rosso (2017–2018)

Hartley made his Formula One debut for Toro Rosso at the 2017 United States Grand Prix, replacing Pierre Gasly, who was absent to take part in the final round of the Japanese

Super Formula Championship The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series held primarily in Japan. It is considered to be the pinnacle of single-seater racing in Japan or Asia as a whole, making it one of the top motorsport series in the region. The ...

; he raced with the number 39. He qualified in 17th position after being eliminated during Qualifying 1, but started from 19th position due to engine penalties. He finished the race in 13th position, one lap down on race winner

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...

. It was confirmed on 26 October that Hartley would remain a Toro Rosso driver for the remainder of the season, replacing Daniil Kvyat, and he chose 28 (the same number previously used by Will Stevens in

) as his permanent race number. FIA F1 Austria 2018 Nr

On 16 November 2017 Hartley was confirmed by Toro Rosso as a full-time driver alongside Pierre Gasly for the season. Hartley scored points at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with tenth,

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix () was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history: the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hockenheimring in B ...

with tenth again and the United States Grand Prix with his highest finish in ninth. He finished the season in nineteenth place, four places and 25 points behind his teammate, albeit with two more non-finishes. On 26 November 2018 it was confirmed that Hartley would not continue with Toro Rosso for

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. He was replaced by Thai driver Alexander Albon.

Ferrari (2019)

On 4 February 2019,

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari (; ), currently racing under Scuderia Ferrari HP, is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "the Pranc ...

announced that Hartley would be one of their development drivers for the 2019 season, alongside former Manor and

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG, currently competing in Formula One as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and also known simply as Kick Sauber or Sauber, is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who pro ...

and current

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

driver Pascal Wehrlein.

Formula E

Following his exit from Formula One, Hartley reunited with Porsche for testing ahead of the manufacturer's debut in the

championship. In August 2019, it was announced he would make his debut in the 2019–20 season with GEOX Dragon Racing, partnering

Nico Müller Nico Sebastian Müller (born 25 February 1992) is a Swiss people, Swiss professional Auto racing, racing driver currently competing in Formula E for Andretti Global, Andretti Formula E. Career Karting Müller began his karting career in 2004 a ...

. Hartley left the Dragon Racing team with immediate effect in July 2020, having scored a lone top-ten finish at

Diriyah Diriyah (; formerly romanization of Arabic, romanized as Dereyeh and Dariyya) is a towns in Saudi Arabia, town and governorate in Saudi Arabia. Located on the northwestern outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Diriyah was the original home of t ...

Sportscar career (2019-present)

FIA World Endurance Championship

SMP Racing (2019)

After one year in

, Hartley was back in 2019 1000 Miles of Sebring, replacing Jenson Button in SMP Racing. He finished the race on the podium, behind two Toyota TS050s. Weeks later,

announced that he would be driving for the team for 2019/20 season replacing two-time Formula One world champion

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

Toyota (2019-present)

His time with Toyota would open with a Podium in Silverstone and a win in Fuji, where Hartley and co-driver Kazuki Nakajima secured pole for the #8 car. A string of second-place results throughout the midseason would cause the number 8 car to finish behind its sister car in the championship. Hartley would take his first of two

24 hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

victory in the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

event. Hartley would continue with Toyota into its new Hypercar regulations. A win at the opening two rounds at Spa-Francorchamps and Portimão opened the #8 Toyota's season strongly, but Hybrid issues caused Hartley's car to spend much of the race in the pits, finishing fourth in class. Hartley's team would finish the season without coming below second in the final three races, although this would not be enough to close in on the sister #7 car, which would take their second consecutive world endurance championship title.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Hartley kept his ties with the American racing scene driving again for Starworks Motorsport in the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2015 Daytona 24 Hours. In the 2016 Daytona 24 Hour he drove with Ford Chip Ganassi Racing. This tie saw him invited to drive for Chip Ganassi's Indycar team in 2018 but he had to decline due to securing a drive in Formula One with Toro Rosso. The 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship saw him do three rounds for

Extreme Speed Motorsports Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) was an American auto racing team based out of Riviera Beach, Florida, Riviera Beach, Florida. Founded by Scott Sharp and Patrón CEO Ed Brown (racing driver), Ed Brown, the team competed in the FIA World Endurance ...

driving a Nissan Onroak DPi culminating in a victory at the 2017 Petit Le Mans.

Personal life

Hartley lives in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. He is married to Sarah Wilson; the couple got engaged in July 2016 and married in January 2018. Prior to this they had been together for about twelve years. Hartley does mountain biking and road cycling in his free time and can play the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Racing record

Karting career summary

Circuit racing career summary

Hartley was ineligible to score points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete New Zealand Grand Prix results

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Italia results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Complete British Formula 3 International Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) As Hartley was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score championship points.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap) Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete Formula E results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Sportscars results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

As Hartley was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
^* Season still in progress.

Rolex Sports Car Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap. Results are overall/class)

IMSA SportsCar Championship

¹ The No. 7 of Starworks Motorsport withdrew from the 12 Hours of Sebring before Practice.
^* Season still in progress.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley, Brendon 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Palmerston North New Zealand expatriates in Monaco People educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School New Zealand racing drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers A1 Grand Prix Rookie drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Formula Ford drivers Toyota Racing Series drivers 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen GP2 Series drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers New Zealand Formula One drivers Toro Rosso Formula One drivers Formula E drivers 24H Series drivers Motopark Academy drivers Epsilon Euskadi drivers Carlin racing drivers RC Motorsport drivers Tech 1 Racing drivers P1 Motorsport drivers Scuderia Coloni drivers Charouz Racing System drivers Ocean Racing Technology drivers Murphy Prototypes drivers Starworks Motorsport drivers Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Dragon Racing drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Mücke Motorsport drivers SMP Racing drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Extreme Speed Motorsports drivers Action Express Racing drivers Wayne Taylor Racing drivers United Autosports drivers Andretti Autosport drivers Expatriate sportspeople in Monaco