Jolyon Palmer has happy memories of the Hungaroring and is happy to be competing in his first Hungarian Grand Prix with the Renault Sport F1 team, even though it has been a disappointing rookie season for the British racer.
The Hungarian Grand Prix is the tenth round of the 2016 Formula 1 season and Palmer has yet to finish inside the top ten, and has also been struggling in qualifying so far, with the twenty-five-year-old still seeking his first points.
With the Hungaroring this year having gone through a resurfacing programme, Palmer admits that it adds a different focus to the weekend in Hungary, and the Briton hopes that it gives the team a boost and provide them with a good result.
“I really like Budapest as it’s been the scene for some of my best races,” said Palmer. “I won there in the GP2 Series [back in 2013 with Carlin]. I like the city and I like the entire place. The track is different in nature to many of them in terms of having a lot of slow speed corners so it feels a bit like Monaco without the walls.
“Obviously this will be my first Grand Prix there so there’s lots to think about. In particular, the circuit has been resurfaced so that’s an unknown – it might help us, it might not; we won’t know until we get there! New track surfaces are always a little bit of a venture into the unknown as you don’t know how much grip there will be, how the surface will evolve over the weekend and how the tyres will perform with the surface.
“Of course, a new surface doesn’t change the layout or make a significant difference to your approach to a particular circuit but nevertheless it does give an additional focus.
“It’s fun to drive a lap, it’s good for racing, hopefully we can have some fun with the strategy and get a good result.”
