Brendon Hartley will retai🅠n his Porsche factory driver status for the 2019 season following his Formu♐la 1 exit.

Hartley became a Porsche factory driver in 2014 upon joining its LMP1 line-up, and remained on the books of the German marq🤡ue despite his move into F1 with Toro Rosso-Honda at the end of last year.

Hartley was dropped from Toro Rosso’s F1 li🎃ne-up for 2019 after scoring only four points this year, finishi෴ng second-from-bottom in the drivers’ standings.

The New Zealander said earlier this week he was considering his options for next year, and was confirmed on Saturday night to be continuing as a Porsche fact🌠o✅ry driver through 2019.

Hartley is part of a largely-unchanged factory driver li♔ne-up for Porsche, as announced as its Night of Champions event in Stuttgart.

H🌼owever, Hartley was not named to any of the team’s sports car line-ups for 2019 that included a four-car factory GT effort f♛or the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Hartley has been linked to racing for Porsche in Formula E upon its entry to the championship in late 2019, and gained exp💯erience testing a car from the all-electric series in the weeks leading up to his shock F1 entry.

Porsche motorsport chief Fritz Enzinger confirmed at the Night of Champions that its first Formula E driver was “already decided” and would be “announced 🌠shortly” ahead of the start of testing this spring.

The only change to the factory driver squad at Weissach for next year is the addition of Ja🐻xon Evans, 22, who won the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia in 2018.