Jolyon Palmer has put behind him the disappointing weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit as he looks ahead to the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix.
After a good start to the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship in Melbourne by finishing eleventh for Renault ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen, Palmer had a challenging weekend in Bahrain. On the formation lap he experienced hydraulics issues, leading him to retire before the Grand Prix had started.
“Australia was a really good way to kick off the year,” said Palmer. “We were a little bit ahead of where we thought we’d be so all the pre-season preparation had paid off well.
“Bahrain was more challenging as it was a weekend where nothing really clicked but overall the feeling within the team is great. There were a few minor issues, which meant we weren’t able to optimise performance but we should have it all addressed for China.
“The car has a well balanced baseline and all we need is a little bit more performance, this is exactly what we have coming in the future, so everything’s good.”
Looking ahead to Shanghai, Palmer believes his experience last year in FP1 gives him an reasonable idea about the track.
“I drove it last year in FP1 so I have a reasonable idea about the track,” added Palmer. “You can get pretty low temperatures there so there’s the challenge of long corners too, which means front tyre graining. It’s almost the exact opposite of Bahrain, which is rear limited.
“There are two sides to the track, you’ve got the really long straight with heavy braking at the end, then there’s the double DRS zones into the first corner as well so there’s overtaking opportunities there.
“The middle sector is more about high speed corners where it’s not so easy to follow the car ahead but the corner itself provides the challenge. There’ll always be the element of looking after the tyres in Shanghai.”
