Brendon Hartley admitted it was disappointing to see both Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda cars to fall out of Qualifying in the first segment at the Hockenheimring, with the New Zealander finishing eighteenth fastest overall, just behind team-mate Pierre Gasly.
Hartley felt he could and should have done a two-lap run at the end of the session rather than just the one, particularly with the track improving the longer the session went on, although the struggles he was experiencing with the Ultrasoft Pirelli tyre would have still made it tricky to advance.
“I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t make it to Q2 today,” admitted Hartley. “It was a relatively smooth session, my first lap looked OK so I opted for one lap at the end of the session.
“In hindsight, maybe doing two laps would have been better with the track improving the way it did. In addition, we really lacked some pace on the Ultrasoft tyre today.”
Hartley, who will move up at least one place on the grid thanks to the penalty for Daniel Ricciardo, feels Toro Rosso’s race pace should be better than its short run pace, believing that the team were amongst the quickest of the midfield runners during practice on Friday.
“Thinking of the positives, our long run pace looks quite competitive – we were one of the quickest cars in the midfield during the race simulations,” said the New Zealander.
