Hartley: Porsche "incredibly fair" in FE negotiations

Former Porsche LMP1 and Toro Rosso Formula 1 racer Hartley was involved in the early test and development phase of the Weissach marque's season six FE entry alongside Neel Jani, who was confirmed early on as a race driver for the all-new squad.

However Hartley was not chosen for the second seat, which instead went to another former member of Porsche's FIA World Endurance Championship roster, Andre Lotterer, who has moved across from the championship-winning DS Techeetah team.

Speaking to Motorsport.com about the decision, Hartley was magnanimous, and pointed out that his 2019/20 Toyota WEC deal would have made any agreement with Porsche difficult.

He also praised his employers for allowing him to pursue an opportunity with Dragon Racing, where he was confirmed at the start of August.

Asked if he felt disappointed about being passed over for a FE seat with Porsche, Hartley replied: "Yes and no. It was very understandable. I was never promised a seat.

"They wanted to use my experience of testing and development, there was a chance of a race seat, but when the calendar was announced around the time of the Le Mans 24 Hours and there were three clashes, it made negotiating a contract almost impossible because I was committed to Toyota and the WEC.

"On the other hand, I understand why they signed a driver with experience in a championship-winning team. So there were no hard feelings from that point of view.

"Porsche have been incredibly fair letting me take up a race seat at another team, considering I’m still under contract. They’ve been incredibly fair and I have to thank them for that."

It's understood that while Hartley remains a works Porsche driver, his contract is set to expire at the end of the year and will not be renewed.

An updated Porsche press kit distributed to media at the Silverstone WEC round listing all the manufacturer's factory drivers - including Jani and Lotterer - did not feature Hartley.

Hartley backs Dragon to "punch above their weight"

Last season, Dragon finished 10th in the teams' standings, beating only NIO, and scored a best result of fifth with newly-signed BMW driver Maximilian Gunther.

"It’s obviously a smaller team compared to some others in terms of personnel," said Hartley of his new team. "But they are all motivated, as am I, to do a good job, hopefully punch above their weight and develop during the season. I’m excited by the challenge.

"I think it complements this [Toyota WEC] campaign very well. It helps they are very different cars, it helps jumping between them, if they were closer it might be trickier, but because they are so different it’s quite easy to reset the brain."

Two clashes between the 2019/20 FE and WEC calendars remain, and Hartley clarified that in the event of any conflict, Toyota gets priority over Dragon.

The American team named Audi DTM racer Nico Muller as its second driver for the 2019/20 season on Wednesday.