Hartley: A pretty sh!tty position to be in

Since then, Hartley - a WEC world champion and Le Mans 24 Hours winner with Porsche - has seen his dream turn nightmarish as he has struggled to assert himself and deliver at the highest level, relative to his teammate Pierre Gasly he has been comprehensively overshadowed.

So much so that the young Frenchman has been chosen to step up and partner Max Verstappen in the Red Bull senior team while the New Zealander is expected to be fired at the end of the season.

Hartley is well aware of his predicament and told reporters in Austin, "My position in the team was already being questioned after three races into the start of the season, which is a pretty shitty position to be in. But I feel like I'm stronger because of it as for the rest I don't know."

The stats have not been kind to the Kiwi in his rookie season, five DNFs and only two points put him second last in the points standings compared to teammate Gasly, in 15th, with four DNFs but 28 points to his name.

Hartley added, "Definitely I've changed my attitude a bit and become more focused in a more selfish way, managing my time and just keeping my mind on points that move the stopwatch."

Red Bull driver boss Helmut Marko has made no secret that Hartley is under threat, even claiming "more than ten drivers" were on the radar for Hartley's seat. Some suggested he would lose his seat at the Belgian Grand Prix, then Singapore etc.

"In an ideal world, you would have full support, from a contractual point of view to just be able to focus on doing your job, but it's Formula 1, it's not always like that."

Speculation played out in the media which the 28-year-old did not appreciate, "When you have signed a long-term deal, to answer questions about your immediate future is not really the ideal situation to be in for any sportsperson."

"I have had to deal with it and I feel like I've dealt with it well and I feel like I'm performing very well, even if I maybe haven't been in the points as much. There's definitely been times I've been a bit unlucky and with all things being equal, I've definitely shown I can do the job."

Indeed Hartley did the business on Saturday afternoon at Suzuka when he qualified sixth, faster than Gasly, notably at Honda's home race which prompted Toro Rosso team chief Franz Tost to quip, "Why to replace him when he is driving like this?"

However the rumours of his replacement won't go away, latest being that F2 ace Alexander Albon will step up to Toro Rosso, but Hartley refused to be drawn into speculation, "I said it already before, from my point of view I have a contract for next year and anything else is better to discuss with someone from Red Bull."

Meanwhile, Toro Rosso have signed their 'prodigal son' Daniil Kvyat to return to the team in 2019, with Hartley needing to deliver stellar performances in the final four races to have any hope of keeping a seat on the F1 grid beyond the end of this season.