Renault: Palmer finishes in a frustrating 11th place

Once again, the Renault team returns empty-handed from its race weekend. A difficult race for Nico Hülkenberg, marked by a botched start that compromised all his chances of aiming for a Top 10 finish that was within their reach.

“It was a difficult race. I had a bad start, to the point of triggering the anti-stall mode which engages the clutch to prevent the engine from stopping as the grip is so high on the grid. That was the beginning of the end. I was almost last before the first corner, and it became evident that the afternoon would be complicated,” the German explained.

The rest of the race was purely about tire management in a car with which he couldn’t really attack: « We were in trouble with the Super Softs overheating, but also with the balance and grip. We opted for an early pit stop to switch to the Softs, but the leaders were coming up through the field and two blue flags made me lose a lot of time. It was quite tough today. We need to look into what happened and focus on Silverstone. » said Hülkenberg after his race.

The frustration was also very high on Palmer’s side, who once again finishes just outside the points: “We started 16th to finish 11th for the third time, once again with points within our reach! For more than forty laps, I had Lance Stroll in my sights without being able to overtake him,” confessed the Briton.

Palmer has clearly identified his weak point: qualifying. The Briton must therefore focus more on this exercise starting next weekend at Silverstone: « I have to emphasize better qualifying, but the pace seemed to improve throughout the weekend. So there are some positives to take away. My home race will be next. Silverstone is a beautiful track that I love with its many fast corners. I hope it’s the circuit that allows me to score points. » concluded Palmer.

A necessarily disappointing outcome for the whole team and for Cyril Abiteboul, who aims for better at the home race for his team, based not far from Silverstone: After Baku, the Austrian Grand Prix represents the second missed opportunity to score points. Despite a good race overall, Jolyon’s 16th place on the grid did not allow him to finish in the points. Once again, we need to qualify better to score the next day. It was a very difficult day for Nico, who fell victim to a bad start that we need to investigate while trying to understand why his pace didn’t match what we saw this weekend. On a positive note, we see that our engine program is on the right track since it offers good race pace and a new podium. We turn the page and look forward to reversing the trend at Silverstone. The British Grand Prix will be the starting point for a series of major developments on the chassis. We continue to work hard to achieve our goals, finally explains the Frenchman.