Jolyon Palmer had a second troubled day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya as the Renault driver was forced to end his day prematurely with a turbo failure that caused one of the three red flags on day two.
Despite completing only 42 laps of the Spanish circuit and ending the day tenth fastest out of the eleven drivers that took to the track, Palmer feels the Renault RS16 feels good to drive at this early stage, even if the running has been compromised so far.
“The positives from today are immediately apparent,” said Palmer, who will make his Formula 1 race debut in 2016 after a year as Lotus reserve driver last season. “We were able to run a good programme in the morning, covering a lot of what we wanted to do.
“The car feels good and forgiving and provides a great baseline for us to work forwards. Unfortunately we did stop running early in the afternoon, but my overall analysis of today is most certainly positive.”
Kevin Magnussen will take to the track for his first day in the RS16 on Wednesday, his first day in the car since replacing Pastor Maldonado in the team last month.
