Jolyon Palmer puts Renault in Q2 at Abu Dhabi

Jolyon Palmer’s season was truly divided into two parts: after a difficult start, he was able to raise his level of play. In the end, he was defeated 8-12 in the qualifying sessions against his teammate, but he remains on a positive trajectory, as he himself confirms: “I am really happy with how everything is going. After the Malaysian Grand Prix, I have always reached Q2. So it’s a nice streak that continues today.”

The Briton, who has been retained by Renault for next season, managed to finish 15th but at a respectable distance from Romain Grosjean’s 14th place: « The Yas Marina circuit is not one of those that suit us best, but I executed an excellent lap in Q1 before beating Wehrlein in Q2. The fifteenth position is probably the best we could achieve. »

Alan Permane, the operations director, acknowledged that his driver could not expect much better: « The day was similar to many previous meetings. We didn’t quite extract the optimal potential from the car, but that didn’t have a significant impact on our position on the grid. In Q2, Jolyon made a small mistake on his second run, but a perfect lap would have only allowed him to get closer to his predecessor, without overtaking him. »

If it seems difficult to score points on a circuit where wide run-offs allow for avoiding many off-track accidents, he hopes to make his mark at the start: « I think our race pace is a bit stronger, so we should be able to move up. If something happens at the start and we gain a few places, then we will have the pace to stay there. »

The last weekend for Kevin Magnussen with his team did not go ideally as the Dane was never comfortable behind the wheel of his single-seater. He was unable to make it out of Q1: « We have been lacking pace here in Abu Dhabi, and today’s qualifying was no exception. It’s just not my weekend. We had planned for three runs, but I was called to the weighbridge, and that didn’t help. »