Kiwi driver Brendon Hartley admits it was 'surprisingly tricky' to return to his Porsche car for the World Endurance Championships after two Grand Prix races with Toro Rosso in the Formula 1.
Hartley, who's been part of Porsche's World Endurance Championship team since 2014, made back-to-back Formula 1 appearances in the US and Mexico in October.
He returned to his full-time Porsche role last weekend in Shanghai and sealed his second WEC title along with fellow Kiwi Earl Bamber and German Timo Bernhard.
Speaking to the media on Friday morning (NZ time) Hartley admitted it took a while to adjust being back in the Porsche after time in a Formula 1 car.
"It was surprisingly tricky to jump back into the car," said Hartley. "I thought I was going to feel right at home because it has been my home for the last four years but it took a couple of laps for it to feel comfortable again.
"The seating position is quite different to Formula 1, having a roof over your head different perspective but after five laps I felt back at home."
It has been a crazy past two months for Hartley who has been jumping back and forth between Formula 1 and World Endurance Championship racing.
It has been that full-on, the 27-year-old has hardly had any time to reflect on what a successful year it has been.
"I've tried not to overthink it," he said. "Even winning the [WEC] championship hasn't sunk in, I haven't had time to reflect, going from one race to another.
"It won't be until the end of year when I am home that I can think about it all. I am aware that the F1 debut, Le Mans victory and WEC championship are all amazing things but at the moment I am trying to take one step at a time, so I stay focused and catch up on as much sleep as I can."
After this weekend's race, Hartley will travel to Bahrain for the final race of the World Endurance Championship season on November 18 (local time) and then he will head to Abu Dhabi for the final F1 race of the season on November 26 (local time)
Newshub.
