Brendon Hartley's father, Bryan, is ecstatic for his son, who will become the first New Zealander since 1984 to race in in Formula One next weekend.
The Kiwi will race at the US Grand Prix next weekend for Toro Rosso. His call-up has been met with excitement from the 27-year-old and those who have helped him to get there.
Hartley will take the place of Pierre Gasly for next weekend's race, while the Frenchman takes a brief break to compete in the Super Formula Championship in Japan.
Speaking to Jim Kayes and Andrew Gourdie on RadioLIVE's Sunday Sport, Bryan Hartley said he feels like the happiest man alive.
"It would be impossible to be more proud than this. This is truly, absolutely amazing, and every person involved in motorsport would love to be in my position right now.
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"It all happened very quickly. It all happened behind the scenes and nobody knew what was going on, and it all just happened in the last couple of days."
Bryan admits it is tough to know what this opportunity will mean in the future, but he hopes to grab this opportunity with both hands.
"Hopefully in five years he will be in Formula One, but unfortunately it is hard to predict.
"What he has to do next weekend is finish. Anything than last in qualifying is a bonus for him, considering he hasn't done any mileage or simulation testing.
"I know from my own experience when you put the helmet on and when the green flag goes down, you forget about the world around you and you get on with the job at hand, getting to the chequered flag, and he is good at that."
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