Brendon Hartley says he was "surprised'' to read that this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix could be his last.
In China, Hartley and Toro Rosso teammate Pierre Gasly collided, something which nearly occurred again during qualifying in Baku two weeks later. Hartley then crashed heavily during final practice for the Spanish Grand Prix fueling speculation he might be on the verge of being replaced.
The former Le Mans 24 Hours winner says his recent blips in the previous rounds have overshadowed his better moments in 2018 such as his qualifying performances against teammate Gasly in the opening three rounds and his first career points in Baku.
"Well yeah, I have a contract, so I was surprised to hear,'' Hartley said. "Formula One obviously moves quick, there are plenty of critics. As a driver, you're your own biggest critic. I had two weekends not completely clean. In fairness I scored my first point in Azerbaijan. The first three races of the year, I was ahead in qualifying for two of the three.
"Ultimately we've not had the pace to be in the points all the time. I was really happy with my race in Barcelona on Sunday. Again we didn't have the pace to move much further up the grid. I felt I did more or less what I could. I'm happy with how I dealt with having a crash. It can happen. Obviously you don't want it to happen, and I'll make a big effort that it doesn't happen again. But I'm not the only one that will have a crash, and it won't be my last crash. It's part of being a racing driver.''
Hartley acknowledges rumours and speculation are part of being an F1 driver and he is sure a big result is around the corner.
"I'll move on and fight this weekend, and hopefully have a good result. There's always anyway a lot of rumours in Formula One so as a driver, it's better not to read too much. I know that I'm a team player. I'm working very hard behind the scenes. I know I'm more than capable. I think I've showed that in the first three qualifyings of the year.
"Since then I haven't even done a lap in qualifying. I've had some good races, but only once this year have we had the pace in the car to score big points, and that was the race I had a penalty in and didn't deliver. I know I'll have my time. I'm very motivated this weekend to have a good result.''