Brendon Hartley will make a return to the FIA World Endurnace Championship, replacing ex F1 driver Jenson Button in the 1000 Miles of Sebring and TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The Kiwi will be competing in the No.11 BR Engineering BR1-AER alongside Mikhail Aleshin and Vitaly Petrov.

“I’m very pleased to join SMP Racing for the next two WEC races at Sebring and Spa,” commented Hartley. “The team have all the tools and a great driver roster so I think we have a big opportunity to fight for podiums. It marks my return to the WEC and I’m really looking forward to being back in the paddock amongst many familiar faces.”

The 2015 and 2017 FIA World Endurance Champion has also been confirmed as a simulator driver for the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team this season.

Hartley brings to SMP Racing a huge amount of relevant endurance racing experience from his time with the Porsche LMP1 team and prior to that in the ELMS.