New Zealander Brendon Hartley will make his Formula One debut at the U.S. Grand Prix and, as Toro Rosso's official confirmation put it, is an opportunity nearly a decade in the making.
Hartley was named a Red Bull junior in 2007 alongside a batch of drivers including Daniel Ricciardo. He contested that year's Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and won a series including future F1 drivers Jaime Alguersuari, Charles Pic, Roberto Merhi, Jules Bianchi and Ricciardo.
After being named official reserve driver for Red Bull and Toro Rosso in 2008, and testing twice for the latter, a move to British Formula 3 followed, where he finished third ahead of Sergio Perez and Marcus Ericsson.