Jolyon Palmer’s Bahrain Grand Prix transpired to be a short but not so sweet affair today, with a hydraulic failure grounding the young British Formula 1 rookie before the lights went out.
Having lined up 19th on the starting grid after a challenging qualifying session behind the wheel of his Renault Sport Formula One Team R.S.16, Palmer was forced back to the pits at the end of the formation lap. Despite the best efforts of his engineers, the issue was unable to be rectified, consigning Jolyon to an early bath.
Jolyon said: “Having got one Grand Prix under my belt, I was looking forward to racing today so I’m disappointed at not making it past the formation lap! I think we could have had a chance to move up the grid, especially after our strong performance in Melbourne. Everything was okay with the car until the last corner of the lap, but then I had to go straight into the pits. It looks like it was related to hydraulics and we’ll be looking into it with the team to understand what happened. These things can happen in racing, and I certainly want to move to the next race in China as quickly as possible.”
Palmer will not have long to dwell on his misfortune, however, as the former GP2 Series Champion’s next outing – the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai – will take place in just a fortnight’s time on 15-17 April.
These things can happen in racing, and I certainly want to move to the next race in China as quickly as possible. Jolyon Palmer, Renault Sport Formula One Team Driver