All set to vroom-vroom!

It’s time for Formula One racing. As the new 2016 season round the corner, Renault is forging a new chapter in its already compelling history with Renault Sport Racing and Renault Sport Cars. At a news conference yesterday, Jolyon Carlyle Palmer, the 25-year-old British racing driver with the Renault Sport F1 Team and the 2014 GP2 Series champion, talked about his plans for Formula One racing.

Excerpts:  

What’s the best thing about coming back to this track as a Formula One driver?

I raced here in GP2 and it’s a track I had been successful in the past. I won the last race I did there, then I also had a podium. I also drove in practice last year. The track is ‘OK’. There are a lot of straights so plenty of overtaking opportunities. We will find out more about the car in this trim. 

There is a lot of track evolution as it is very sandy at the start of the weekend, and then the track gets more and more rubber down, so conditions change a lot. The weather is almost always sunny, but it can be quite windy, which can blow sand onto the track. 

It’s a night race and pretty interesting as it’s still very dry. In terms of set up, practice 1 and 3 are hard as they are a lot hotter than the race. But there is a lot we can do in procedural terms, such as aero tests. I will be more relaxed now. I have one race under my belt, particularly as I finished all 58 laps. I feel much more comfortable after preseason testing. I’m looking forward to going to a track I know and have won before.

How would you review your first race weekend as a Formula 1 driver?

I really enjoyed it. Everything went very smoothly. I had a good qualifying and then maximised the car in the race. I was happy with the race; I had a good start and was wheel to wheel for quite a long time, scrapping hard – it was great fun. I wanted to get to the finish, and you always dream of stealing a point, but I just missed it with P11, which is really frustrating! But we can definitely build on this. In Australia, we didn’t have any more pace in the car, but it was an encouraging start.

After your performance in Melbourne last week, the general opinion is that you are a calm and collected driver and you put up a solid drive. How do you see the team?

I feel at home in the team. The team is operationally very good and we have more developments coming. The car is nicely balanced, the pace is good – all in all, it was a strong start, especially considering the takeover was completed just before Christmas. We have upgrades coming all the time and it should not be too long before we can fight for points consistently.

How did you feel coming back to racing after a year?

It felt completely normal. The difference from GP2 to F1 is that there are bigger variables. People are on different tyres and strategies. So you have to work out whether you can realistically fight and keep position, but it was not a problem. I had some good battles and really enjoyed it.

You are featured in the new livery video getting out of the Renault Captur. Have you driven one before?

Yes. The Renault Captur is a great product. I’ve driven it and the great thing is Renault puts the same care and technology into their road cars that it puts into their cars on track.  In fact, the name Renault Sport Formula One Team underscores the crossover between F1 and road cars and the importance the company places on this aspect.