Marko admits almost ousting Hartley

Jun.18 - Dr Helmut Marko has admitted he considered ousting struggling Toro Rosso driver Brendon Hartley.

In past weeks, rumours abounded that the Red Bull consultant was shopping around for an alternative - perhaps Lando Norris or Robert Kubica - to New Zealand rookie Hartley.

Marko doesn't deny it.

"If the trajectory had not improved, then we would have had to look somewhere for an alternative," he told Germany's motorsport-magazin.com.

"But that's not the case and Brendon is now competitive."

It is believed Marko is referring specifically to Hartley's performance in Canada, where he clearly improved and put Pierre Gasly under pressure.

It then ended with the first lap crash.

"Mr (Lance) Stroll was involved," Marko explained. "Pierre's eleventh place was encouraging, with Brendon perhaps looking a bit better."

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Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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