Jolyon Palmer secured his first Q2 appearance since the season opening Australian Grand Prix in March as he qualified sixteenth for the German Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Renault Sport F1 driver will move up two places on the grid for the race at the Hockenheimring, with both Carlos Sainz Jr and Romain Grosjean taking penalties, but the Briton was happy to finally return to Q2 after being close at both Silverstone and the Hungaroring.
After missing out on his first point with an error in Hungary last weekend while running inside the top ten, Palmer feels he could fight for that elusive top ten finish this weekend providing he drives well again this weekend.
“It’s good to be back in Q2!” said Palmer. “The car is improving overall, there is clear progress. We were close to Q2 in Silverstone, we should have been there for Hungary and now here we are in Hockenheim.
“I’m looking forward to the race; we had better pace in Budapest but started lower in P17 than here. I was driving pretty well in Hungary bar one corner, so if I can drive well around the Hockenheimring for every corner then I should have a good chance to score points.”