Jolyon Palmer praised his team for working hard to replace his power unit ahead of qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix, and then apologised to them for crashing into the barriers at turn four at the end of Q1.
The Renault Sport Formula 1 Team racer had missed out on running in final practice at the Sochi Autodrom on Saturday morning, and was trying to advance through to the second phase of qualifying only to hit the inside kerb at turn four hard that saw the former GP2 Series champion lose control and hit the outside wall nose first.
As a result he will start sixteenth on the grid, the time he set before his crash not quite good enough to make it through into Q2 in any case, but he remains positive that he can have a good result on race day.
“I have to say a big thank you to all my crew and everyone in the garage who has worked so hard over this weekend, they really have been amazing and now they have a bit more work to do,” said Palmer.
“I was pushing hard and took too much kerb which pitched me into the barriers. I was on the back foot slightly with missing FP3, but anything can happen in the race, so I hope for a better day.”
