Jolyon Palmer missed out on following team-mate Nico Hülkenberg through to the top ten shootout at the Hungaroring by just 0.104 seconds, but feels his starting position offers him a good chance of a first points finish of 2017 on Sunday.
The Renault Sport Formula 1 Team racer qualified eleventh but ironically moves up into the top ten thanks to a grid penalty for his team-mate following a gearbox change, and with a free choice of starting tyre, he is hopeful of making the most of his grid position to score his first points of the year.
Palmer feels he will need to find a good rhythm during the race if he is to hold on to a top ten position, but he will find confidence in his performance at this circuit twelve months ago where he ran inside the points for a long period of time before just missing out towards the end on a top ten finish.
“The car’s been working well,” said Palmer. “I’m a bit disappointed not to be in Q3, but I will start from P10 on the grid tomorrow, which is a decent position to score some points from.
“I was in the top ten yesterday in FP1 and today in Q1, so we’ve seen there’s good potential from the car. We’ve got some new tyres available, so we have options; all we need is a good rhythm in the race.”
