An under pressure Jolyon Palmer has said his bad luck “has to end,” as potential replacement Robert Kubica‘s chances of a return continue to improve.
The British driver’s continued employment at Renault has been under question all season long, having so far failed to score a point in 2017. His case was not helped by being unable to start his home grand prix, for which he had qualified in 11th, one of his best efforts of the year.
“The big negative was obviously not being able to start the race,” Palmer explained. “That was unbelievably frustrating, especially as it was my home Grand Prix and I had a lot of support. I couldn’t believe it.
“But, on the positives, there were certainly a couple of good things from Silverstone. My qualifying pace was decent and I managed my second best run of the season.”
“I have burnt the unlucky underpants, so they are now out of the way! I’m not superstitious, but you have to say this run of bad luck has to end.”
His team-mate Nico Hülkenberg benefited from a new floor upgrade to finish in sixth place at the British GP, an equal best result for the Renault team since its return to Formula 1. With the same upgrades now being applied to Palmer’s car for the Hungaroring, he is hoping the pace demonstrated by his German team-mate may come to fruition for himself this weekend.
“I drove with the new floor in FP1 and it was working nicely, meaning I’m happy to have it for Budapest. Nico showed the benefit of the floor across last weekend with his strong qualifying and race pace. It’s exciting for the team as we looked competitive and ahead of our midfield rivals. That’s all I hope for in Hungary.”
The venue is one Palmer has tasted success at in the past, having won the GP2 feature race in 2013, along with a podium in the sprint race the following season. However, with team-principal Cyril Abiteboul setting him a clear target of points by the summer break, the Brit is still under pressure to finish in the Top 10 this weekend.
