Jolyon Palmer has struggled with the RS16 so far this weekend, making set up changes ahead of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, but still unable to find the right balance with his Renault. The Brit finished the session in P19, but despite the problems Palmer remains positive ahead of Sunday’s race.
“The team did a good job; we avoided the first drop and operationally, I think we have a sound understanding of qualifying. We gave it as good a shot as we could but in the end the pace wasn’t there.”
The team will be aiming to make the best of the situation and put in a strong performance to advance the cars through the field, with Palmer to start nineteenth and team-mate Kevin Magnussen from the pit lane after failing to stop for a weight check during practice on Friday.
“Our race pace was a lot better than our qualifying performance in Melbourne so hopefully the same situation is being exaggerated here,” said Palmer. “I’m aiming to have a strong race getting as far up the order as possible. It’s easier to overtake here than it was in Melbourne so we’ll give it a good go. Anything can happen.”
