Brendon Hartley: Le Mans Winner, Endurance Champion and Formula One Driver

Brendon Hartley is a New Zealand driver whose career moved from karting and Formula Renault into the factory programmes of Porsche and Toyota. He raced in Formula One for Toro Rosso in 2017 and 2018, then built his reputation in the World Endurance Championship, where he is credited with a joint-record four titles.

Who is Brendon Hartley?

Hartley was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand, on 10 November 1989. He is best known for endurance racing, where he has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times, with Porsche in 2017 and with Toyota in 2020 and 2022.

His father Brian had raced in several forms of motorsport, including Formula Atlantic, and the family was closely tied to the sport. Hartley followed his brother Nelson into karting at the age of six.

From New Zealand karting to Formula One, then three Le Mans wins and a long run of endurance titles with Porsche and Toyota.

How did Hartley start in motorsport?

Hartley started karting at six, and by his teens he was racing in full-scale championships. He finished seventh in his first championship, Formula First, and in 2003 he won the New Zealand Formula Ford Festival. Both results came before he left New Zealand for Europe.

In that Formula Ford season he drove a car his brother had used the year before. He started four races and won two of them, which set up his step into European racing.

After a season in Formula Toyota New Zealand, Hartley moved to Europe. He competed in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and the North European Cup, finishing fourteenth and tenth in those championships respectively.

What did the Formula Renault and Formula Three years produce?

Hartley's European single-seater career built steadily. In his second year in Formula Renault he took three Eurocup wins, three Italian championship podiums and the Eurocup title, which gave him momentum into Formula Three. He moved up to that category in 2007.

His Formula Three debut came in 2007 at the Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder, where he finished fourth. That result led to a test with A1 Team New Zealand and a rookie role with the series.

In 2008 he raced in British Formula 3 for Carlin Motorsport, winning five times and finishing third in the championship. He also raced in Formula Three Euroseries events and finished fifth at the Masters of Formula 3, with a third place at the Macau Grand Prix.

In 2009 he stayed with Carlin for the Formula Three Euroseries and finished eleventh. He also drove for Tech 1 Racing in Formula Renault 3.5 and ended fifteenth in that championship.

How did Hartley's Red Bull link end?

Hartley was signed by Tech 1 for a full Formula Renault 3.5 season in 2010, partnered by fellow Red Bull Junior driver Daniel Ricciardo. During the summer break he was dropped from the Red Bull Junior team, and his seat went to Jean-Eric Vergne.

He still made his GP2 Series debut at Monza that September, replacing Vladimir Arabadzhiev at Coloni. He scored one point in the season finale at Yas Marina and finished 27th in the championship.

In 2011 he returned to Formula Renault 3.5 with Gravity-Charouz Racing, taking three podiums and seventh in the championship. He also raced at round eight of GP2 at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing fifth in his first race with Ocean Racing Technology.

When did Hartley first race in sports cars?

Hartley first raced sports cars in 2012, when he joined the Murphy Prototypes team in LMP2. He finished third in the LMP2 class at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with teammates Warren Hughes and Jody Firth, then retired from the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the same team.

In 2013 he stayed with Murphy in the European Le Mans Series and also raced for Starworks Motorsport in the Rolex Sports Car Series. He took pole for the 3 Hours of Hungaroring and finished second in the race, then won the season finale at Le Castellet.

His Rolex Sports Car Series results included a win at Road America, shared with Scott Mayer.

Did Hartley race in Formula One?

Yes. He debuted for Toro Rosso at the 2017 United States Grand Prix as a stand-in for Pierre Gasly, and from 2018 he was a full-time driver. He finished 19th in the 2018 standings. Before that he had been a reserve and test driver for Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

Before that he had a long run as a reserve and test driver. In February 2008, aged eighteen, he performed a show run for Red Bull Racing in Riyadh, then carried out shake-down testing for the Toro Rosso STR3. In November 2008 he covered testing duties for Mark Webber.

For 2009 he was named official reserve driver for Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso, but his superlicence was not approved until April 2009. He made his debut as reserve driver at the Spanish Grand Prix on 8 May, becoming the first New Zealander to reach F1 driver status since Mike Thackwell in 1984.

On 13 September 2012 he took part in a young driver test for Mercedes at Magny-Cours, completing 87 laps and setting the third-quickest time. He was reserve driver again in 2010, but was dropped after round six.

His F1 race days ended with the 2018 season. He scored points at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the German Grand Prix and the United States Grand Prix, where his highest finish came with ninth. Toro Rosso did not retain him for 2019.

In February 2019 Ferrari named him one of its development drivers, alongside Pascal Wehrlein, which kept him involved in the sport in a non-race role.

How did Hartley's Porsche years go?

Porsche made Hartley a factory driver ahead of 2014, when he drove a Porsche 919 Hybrid in the World Endurance Championship. His first season was hard, and the No. 20 crew finished ninth in the standings with three podiums. It was a year of learning before the title years began.

Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard were his co-drivers in the 2015 and 2016 title years. Earl Bamber joined the line-up for 2017, when the team again won the championship.

In 2015 his fortunes changed. He, Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, then won four races in succession starting at the 6 Hours of Nurburgring. Porsche took the manufacturers' title, and the crew clinched the drivers' title.

The 2016 title defence ended with fourth in the drivers' standings. At the end of the year, Sportscar365 named Hartley second in its list of the ten best sports car drivers.

Hartley, Bernhard and Earl Bamber won the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans after the team had lost 18 laps in the garage with a failed hybrid harvesting motor. The team then clinched the drivers' and manufacturers' titles with a round to spare.

How did Hartley win at Toyota?

Hartley had returned to the WEC in 2019 with SMP Racing at the 1000 Miles of Sebring, where he finished third. He also raced for Action Express Racing at the 12 Hours of Sebring, finishing third there too. Toyota announced his signing later that year.

Hartley joined Toyota in 2019, replacing Fernando Alonso, and partnered Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima in the No. 8 car for the 2019-20 season. The partnership delivered a pole and victory at Fuji in the early rounds and a Le Mans win in 2020.

At Le Mans in 2020 the No. 8 benefited when the No. 7 dropped out with a manifold problem, allowing Hartley's crew to win unchallenged.

Toyota moved into the Hypercar era in 2021, and Hartley's crew won the first race of the new class, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

The 2022 season produced his second Toyota Le Mans win. Hartley took pole before driving home to victory, and the crew went on to clinch the championship at Bahrain, finishing second behind the leading car with Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa.

In 2023 the No. 8 returned with Hartley, Buemi and Hirakawa. Hartley took pole at Portimao and finished second at Spa. A dominant Bahrain win gave the crew the drivers' championship that year.

What has happened since 2024?

In 2024 Hartley spun in qualifying at Qatar and started 17th, then recovered to fifth. The team also placed fifth at Le Mans, where Hartley was eliminated from the win fight late on after being hit by Alessandro Pier Guidi.

Toyota's manufacturers' title came in 2024, when the No. 8 won at Bahrain after a charging final stint from Buemi. The 2025 season ended with the No. 8 seventh in the drivers' standings, having scored a lone second place at Bahrain.

The 2026 season opened at Imola, where Hartley and his teammates used strategy to beat Ferrari on its home track. That win gave Toyota its 50th WEC victory in its 100th start.

Did Hartley's Formula E stint work out?

Not on results. Hartley joined GEOX Dragon Racing for the 2019-20 season, partnering Nico Muller, and left the team in July 2020 after one top-ten finish, at Diriyah. The season was his Formula E debut and his only one in the series.

That single season was his only Formula E campaign. It ran alongside his return to Toyota's sports car programme.

How do his results compare season by season?