Suzuka “not definitely my last race in F1” – Palmer

2017 Japanese Grand Prix

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Jolyon Palmer says he is open to a Formula One return in the future despite his early departure from Renault following today’s race.

Palmer will not contest the final four races of 2017 with Renault after announcing yesterday he will leave the team.

“I would say it’s my last race for Renault,” Palmer told Sky, “it’s not definitely my last race in Formula One.”

“We’ll see what the future holds,” he added. “But it’s my last race for Renault, I’ve been with the team a few years and want to go out on a good note with them.”

Palmer joined the Enstone-based team in 2015 when it was still called Lotus and ran in 13 practice sessions during the year. In 2016 he was promoted to the race team and scored his first point in Malaysia.

Although the team has been more competitive this year, Palmer has not fared well alongside new team mate Nico Hulkenberg, who has out-qualified him at every race. Although Palmer took his first points of the season at Singapore with sixth place, the same weekend the team announced Carlos Sainz Jnr would take his place in 2018.

Toro Rosso will release Sainz after today’s race for him to join Renault early. Coincidentally the pair have been relegated to the rear of the field due to power unit penalties.

“I’m starting obviously near the back after the penalty yesterday so it’s a ‘nothing to lose’ race,” said Palmer. “I ‘ll have fun today, try and move forwards, make something of it.”

2017 Japanese Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    25 comments on “Suzuka “not definitely my last race in F1” – Palmer”

    1. Does this mean he is going to replace Kvyat at STR for 2018 ?

      1. @webtel well, Helmut Marko said the other day that Red Bull had the balls to try young drivers, unlike Ferrari and Mercedes. He will need a big pair to hire Jolyon!

        1. is Jolyon better than Kvyat ? Just asking…

          1. @webtel no idea, but he’s not associated to Red Bull anyway. The last driver to join Red Bull as a grown up driver was Webber back in 2008. I don’t think they’d do that again in the future.

      2. @webtel You can say about STR what you want but they have been loyal to their programme but one exception being Verstappen. Red Bull has brought more drivers to the grid than any other team in recent years and there’s still 5 (!) driving around with potentially 6 (Kvyat, Gasly, Sainz, Ricciardo, Verstappen and Vettel) next year. That is more than 25% of the grid. If every team had a B-team we’d see a financially healthier grid with better overall drivers.

        1. I agree to the part where they are loyal to their junior driver program although not entirely. Wasnt Vettel doing tests for Sauber before he was pulled into STR ? Nonetheless, if you want to maximize your chances, no wrong in bringing in some experience in the form of Palmer. Its anyway a test bed.

          1. @webtel he raced for BMW but was a Red Bull driver, with the Red Bull can helmet design and all.

    2. What a revolutionary though there, Jolyon! thinking that Formula E might change its name to Formula 1 in the near future.

    3. I had low hopes for Palmer which I’ll admit he exceeded last year. This year was more like I expected from him and I’ve a feeling once we see Hulkenberg compared against Sainz it will look even less flattering for Palmer.

      It’s a shame to see the grid lose another British driver but it’s good that it will open up a seat that will likely be filled on merit rather than money.

    4. ‘Not definitely’ is different from ‘definitely not’.
      So its fine :p

    5. I also told my boss I’m open for a €5000 raise. I’m quite optimistic about it really,…

      1. Come to my office immediately

    6. It’s just been unfortunate for Palmer, not like he was 1 second slower than his team mate, but he just wasn’t at the cutting edge.
      Then again, He came from the Lotus era and Renault I think are moving on.

      1. Not like he was 1 second slower than his team mate.

        Well, most of the time he was.

    7. Does maybe Palmer hope, that if Red Bull decides to race Gasly in the Japanese SuperFormula to win the title, which would surely be appriciated by next years engine supplier Honda, and that race clashes with Austin, without any other notable Red Bull junior available, could Palmer drive the Toro Rosso for a single race in the US? There’s only a very slight chance, but wouldn’t be completley irrational, as he is the only available driver on the market with up-to-date F1 experience.

    8. He could have 1 race for STR while Gasly is wrapping up in Super Formula.

    9. Unfortunately I can see him at williams, which is very unfortunate.

      1. If I had to prepare a list for the decision makers at Williams with the drivers currently rumored to accompany Stroll for 2018, it would look like this:
        1 (or 2). Massa: massive experience, 4 years with the team, can support the development of Stroll, still able to deliver
        2 (or 1). Wehrlein: meanwhile Massa can still last for a couple of seasons, Wehrlein has almost his whole F1 career in front of him, scored points with dead last Manor and Sauber, and enjoys the support of engine supplier Mercedes. experience and car developing potential still lacks though.
        3. Kubica: would be a marketing fairy tale to bring the Pole back after 7 years, but the 7 years absent is an extreme risk, and if it doesn’t work, if would hurt both Kubica and Williams, and noone wants that. he has the talent, 33 years old should not be an issue, his not fully recoverable injury might be.
        4. di Resta: 3 years of absence, knows the team and depending on his simulator time, he knows the car. a decent driver, but I personally can’t imagine him as a lead driver of a team
        5. Ericsson: might find himself out of a drive at Sauber, if Ferrari lands both Leclerc and Giovinazzi, but has extremely deep pockets which might be welcomed by most teams, but I can’t see Williams would need more money if they have Strolls.
        6. Palmer: not so deep pockets, and not so convincing 2 seasons, I don’t see how could he be attractive in his current state for a seasonlong contract

        1. @andrewt That’s a terrible list of choices. They’re better of trying to poach Wehrlein for example.

          1. @flatsix: these are pretty much all the drivers whose names came up, the order is obviously my subjective opinion. How would yours look like from the same set of drivers, and who would you add if you could bring in anyone?

            1. @andrewt Well, I pretty much completely agree with your list and POV, and as they are the ones mentioned as you say it’s very likely it’ll be one of them. Then again the list from Williams is uninspiring and lacks vision. There’s better drivers on the grid and in F2.

    10. [img]http://media.dumpert.nl/foto/d90d7688_Palmer.jpg.jpg[/img]

    11. :D Ooch that’s mean!

    12. All I can say is: “This is the unremarkable end of the unremarkable Formula 1 career of an unremarkable driver…”

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