Jolyon Palmer left London for Sydney last night (10 March) as preparations ahead of his maiden Formula 1 Grand Prix continue. 

Now just one week away from hitting the track in Melbourne, Jolyon will first spend time in Sydney as the team works on plans to unveil its final race livery for the new Renault Sport F1 R.S.16. He will then complete the trip to Melbourne early next week.  

Prior to his flight Down Under, Jolyon had enjoyed a whirlwind week of media attention in the UK, as interest in Britain's newest F1 star reached fever pitch.

Returning from France last Sunday where Jolyon carried out some filming for Autocar, the 25-year-old was immediately whisked off to BBC Media City in Salford.

A host of TV and radio appointments with the BBC included interviews with Radio 5Live, CBBC's Newsround, Chris Evans' Radio 2 Breakfast Show and the BBC World News channel - which is available globally to more than 350 million homes. 

Tuesday morning was the turn of Channel 4 as the free-to-air British television broadcaster announced its presenter and punditry line-up for the new F1 season. Jolyon will also play his part in C4's coverage after agreeing to pen a regular column on the channel's new bespoke Formula 1 website.

Jolyon enjoyed a relaxed meal with a number of the UK's national journalists later that evening, before giving them all an unforgettable blast around Bedford Autodrome in a Renault Clio Sport the following morning. 

Wednesday's activities were far from over, however, as Sky Sports F1 joined Jolyon at Bedford to film a fantastic feature for its pre-Australia GP show.

Martin Brundle, Johnny Herbert and Jolyon's dad Jonathan all joined in the fun, for what is sure to be unmissable viewing next week!

It was back down to the serious business yesterday as Jolyon spent the entire day at the Renault Sport F1 Team factory in Enstone, which included his final simulator session ahead of the new F1 season.

“It has been a busy but fun week,” said Jolyon. “Now I can’t wait to get started. I’ve been asked a lot if I am nervous but in truth I’m just feeling really excited. I’m sure there will be some nerves ahead of the race, but this is something I’ve worked towards for many years so I want to make the most of the experience and enjoy it. 

“I haven’t really set any targets because it’s so hard to know exactly where we are with the car compared to everyone else at this stage, but if we could bring a point or two home that would be fantastic.”

For build-up towards the opening race make sure you’re following Jolyon on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and return here for news over the coming days.