Jolyon Palmer felt the pace was in his Renault Sport Formula 1 Team RS17 to qualify better than eighteenth on the grid for the Chinese Grand Prix, but was amongst those to be caught out by the late yellow flags for Antonio Giovinazzi’s crash.
The Briton finished an excellent ninth during Saturday mornings free practice session at the Shanghai International Circuit, and as a result he felt confident heading into qualifying that he could do well, with the seventh place on the grid for team-mate Nico Hülkenberg backing up his confidence.
However, it was not to be due to Giovinazzi crashing his Sauber at the final corner, and Palmer will need some luck to fall his way on Sunday if he is to have a good Grand Prix.
“The car felt good today; I was ninth in FP3 so there’s clearly pace,” said Palmer. “I then had a flat spot on the first run during Q1, which made my second run critical.
“That lap was going well – to comfortably put me into Q2 – when the yellow flags came out and I had to lift. It’s really frustrating but at least we can see the potential is there. The car feels great but it’s all to do tomorrow.”
