Despite enjoying a competitive Formula One debut, Brendon Hartley insists he is not thinking about the possibility of returning to Toro Rosso after the U.S. Grand Prix.
Drafted in at Toro Rosso to contest his maiden F1 race in place of Pierre Gasly, Hartley was 13th out of 16 finishers in Austin. The Kiwi said all of his focus was on preparing for his first grand prix, rather than worrying about the ongoing driver line-up saga at the Faenza-based squad.
"Up until this moment I haven't been asking the question," Hartley explained. "And it was the same when they called me up to do a simulator test. I didn't want to know, I just did the job, and that's how I've taken this weekend.
"I've actually been really relaxed and I'm happy I did it that way. I guess now there might be some conversations. I really don't know. You'll have to ask them."
Hartley -- a Le Mans race winner and WEC champion -- was satisfied with his performance in what was his first single-seater race in five years, though he believes his lack of experience with F1's new generation of cars and tyres meant he was effectively driving "in the darkness."
"There are so many experiences I can take going forward, if I get an opportunity. There's always things you can do better. If I was to do the race again tomorrow, with the experience I've gained, I would do some of it a bit differently. At the end of the last stint I started to understand a bit more, and was pretty happy with the performance."
Teammate Daniil Kvyat was 30s and three positions further up the road as he secured his first points finish since May's Spanish Grand Prix on his return to the sport, having been replaced by Gasly for races in Malaysia and Japan.
When asked if he felt he had done enough to retain his seat for the rest of the 2017 season, Kvyat replied: "I don't know. I've done a perfect Friday, a perfect Saturday and an even more perfect Sunday, so I don't know what else I can do.
"I came here with a fresh mindset, we shuffled some things in the team to give everyone some new motivation and some new focuses. It was my best race of the season for sure. I'm very happy about the result and I did everything I could to bring the points home."
Toro Rosso faces the dilemma of having three drivers available but only two seats free for the final three races in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
Gasly is expected to return to fill one of them for next weekend's Mexican Grand Prix after he skipped Austin to contest the Super Formula finale in Suzuka, only to miss out on the title by half a point after both races were cancelled due to a typhoon.