Jolyon Palmer will begin tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix from 19th position, following a challenging qualifying session in the desert kingdom today.
The young British F1 rookie featured briefly inside the top ten during the final practice session around Sakhir’s Bahrain International Circuit, and as the temperature picked up he handled the hotter conditions in his stride. A late puncture in FP3 pitched him into a wild ‘moment’ that he rescued well, showcasing his car control in the process.
Unfortunately, Jolyon and Renault Sport Formula One Team stablemate Kevin Magnussen then struggled for pace behind the wheel of their R.S.16 machines in qualifying, both finding themselves eliminated during the Q1 knock-out phase.
A penalty for Magnussen will elevate the 25-year-old Southwater racer from 20th to 19th on the grid for the race, which gets underway at 18.00 local time (17.00 GMT) on Sunday (3 April).