Jolyon Palmer is looking to put the extreme disappointment of his Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend behind him this weekend in Austria as the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team racer strives to score his first points of 2017 at the ninth time of asking.
Palmer’s weekend at the Baku City Circuit saw him have mechanical issues during practice that prevented him from running during qualifying, and then his race was over after just seven laps with an engine issue, and although he enjoyed watching the craziness in Azerbaijan unfold, he would have preferred to have been a part of the race for longer than he was.
“There isn’t a lot to say from my weekend, but it was a crazy race to watch!” said Palmer. “I enjoyed watching it, but I wish I was in it, I think there were some points up for grabs for us.
“We will make sure we have a better one in Austria, the target is always the same; to bring home some points.”
Palmer started nineteenth in his first Austrian Grand Prix last year but had one of his better races, moving up to twelfth by the chequered flag ahead of his then team-mate Kevin Magnussen, and he hopes to have confidence this weekend in order to turn his luck and his season around.
“We started on the penultimate row last year but I managed to work my way up to twelfth, beating my team-mate,” said Palmer. “I was quite happy with the race, we just needed a little bit of extra luck and I think we could have been in the points.
“It is a circuit I enjoy having raced there in GP2 in 2014 and then a Free Practice session in 2015. It was definitely one of my strongest races of last season, so it is important to build on the knowledge we have and my confidence at the track and work towards a positive result.
“We need to change our luck. I hope we can make it all stick heading into the final few rounds before the summer break – beginning here.”
