Despite suffering a points-less season so far, Jolyon Palmer believes he will finally break his duck for the season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, citing his penchant for street circuits as a crucial factor.
Palmer’s suggestion the streets of Baku will aid his quest to relieve some of the immense pressure on his performance this year has some merit. The Brit took three of his four GP2 Series career feature race wins at the tight confines of street circuits, and feels this may help him find some much needed form.
“I’ve loved street circuits ever since I drove Marrakesh in F2 and then Monaco in GP2,” the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team driver effused. “I’ve always got on well with them. I’m looking forward to getting back out on another city circuit and approaching it very differently to Monaco and building up a little bit more.”
“It’s great when you’re so dialled in and you get close to the walls; that’s the best buzz for us.”
Palmer comes off a pair of near-misses for his first points of the season – finishing eleventh in both Monaco and Canada – and feels Baku will finally see him take his Renault into the points positions at the eighth time of asking this year.
“I think in Baku we can at least be in the top ten, maybe top eight. We are doing well at the moment, we will keep going and I am feeling strong, I need to work on qualifying pace and being higher on the grid.”
Last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix remains Palmer’s only points scoring finish in Formula 1 to date, and despite breaking into Q3 at the Bahrain earlier this season, finished last of the remaining runners in thirteenth.
