Cyril Abiteboul was full of praise for Jolyon Palmer after the Briton secured his first points of the season in the Singapore Grand Prix with a career best sixth place, despite earlier in the weekend finding out he was surplus to requirement at the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team next season, when he will be replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr.
With conditions far from ideal, and with mistakes easy to make, Palmer drove impeccably, with his race including an impressive pass on Valtteri Bottas into turn one at the restart following the first safety car period.
Although he was unable to stay ahead of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team racer as conditions dried out, but he still managed to secure sixth place, much to delight of Managing Director Abiteboul, who feels the eight points won will go a long way in achieving their aim of securing fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship at the end of the season.
“Tonight’s race was exciting and full of action with the rain and many safety cars – as it’s often the case in Singapore,” said Abiteboul on Sunday. “Jolyon was able to get into the points for the first time this season and achieve his best result ever in F1.
“Despite the circumstances, he drove an error-free race on a night where it would have been easy to make many.
“He was able to help the team in its progress for the Constructors’ Championship, we now sit in seventh place and closer to reaching our goal for fifth position. The final races are well suited for our cars and our target remains unchanged.”
