British F1 rookie Jolyon Palmer will start tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix (17 April) from 19th on the grid, after the Renault Sport Formula One Team struggled for pace in qualifying around the Shanghai International Circuit.
During a rain-plagued FP3 – characterised by standing water and rooster-tails of spray – the former GP2 Series Champion overcame a right-rear puncture to lap an excellent sixth-quickest behind the wheel of his intermediate-shod R.S.16 as conditions eased.
The track had largely dried by the time qualifying came around – barring a brace of big puddles on the straights, one of which contributed to an early red flag and lengthy delay due to an accident for Pascal Wehrlein.
Once the action resumed, Jolyon took to the circuit on super-soft slick tyres, but despite pushing hard, neither he nor team-mate Kevin Magnussen were able to escape the Q1 ‘drop zone’, meaning the 25-year-old Southwater racer will line up 19th for the race – and fully focused on moving forward.
Jolyon commented afterwards: “The car felt OK on the first run but it was still a bit damp and I was quite cautious. The second run was a struggle, with a real lack of grip. I didn’t have such problems yesterday or this morning so we need to try and understand where the loss of performance is coming from between myself and the team.
"For tomorrow, normally the race pace is a bit better than our qualifying speed but we’re still starting near the back and that makes things challenging.”
The starting lights will go out for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix at 14:00 local time (07:00 in the UK).
I didn’t have such problems yesterday or this morning so we need to try and understand where the loss of performance is coming from between myself and the team Jolyon Palmer, Renault Sport Formula One Team Driver