Hartley confirmed as Porsche factory driver for 2019

Brendon Hartley will retain his Porsche factory driver status for the 2019 season following his Formula 1 exit.

Hartley became a Porsche factory driver in 2014 upon joining its LMP1 line-up, and remained on the books of the German marque despite his move into F1 with Toro Rosso-Honda at the end of last year.

Hartley was dropped from Toro Rosso’s F1 line-up for 2019 after scoring only four points this year, finishing second-from-bottom in the drivers’ standings.

The New Zealander said earlier this week he was considering his options for next year, and was confirmed on Saturday night to be continuing as a Porsche factory driver through 2019.

Hartley is part of a largely-unchanged factory driver line-up for Porsche, as announced as its Night of Champions event in Stuttgart.

However, Hartley was not named to any of the team’s sports car line-ups for 2019 that included a four-car factory GT effort for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Hartley has been linked to racing for Porsche in Formula E upon its entry to the championship in late 2019, and gained experience testing a car from the all-electric series in the weeks leading up to his shock F1 entry.

Porsche motorsport chief Fritz Enzinger confirmed at the Night of Champions that its first Formula E driver was “already decided” and would be “announced shortly” ahead of the start of testing this spring.

The only change to the factory driver squad at Weissach for next year is the addition of Jaxon Evans, 22, who won the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia in 2018.