Yeah, there were positive comments out of Toro Rosso, they said that Hartley is still on a steep learning curve and that he was gaining a second a lap in qualifying, seeing as he only missed out on Q2 by a few hundredths of a second they were confident that if he had one more run he would have been comfortably through.
I also read analysis of his performance, when both he an Kyvat were in clear air Hartley was the faster of the two, this was despite the fact that Kyvat was on the much faster tires at the time (and of course Hartley was one second clear when comparing fastest laps). They also concluded that when in clear air Hartley was on about the pace of Verstapen when you adjusted it for tires and car performance.
I wonder if Honda is asking Toro Rosso for an experienced driver who can help them develop their engine. They've stated they want to be 3rd next year which would be a huge task in itself, made pretty much impossible if you just have red bull youth drivers testing it. Hartley was with Porsche for four years and not only helped develop a new car from scratch but also won the championship with it so that has to be in his favour and something that Honda would be quite interested in.