Renault Sport Formula One Team driver Jolyon Palmer endured a mixed start on day one of the Emirates Japanese Grand Prix.

The young Brit lost out on morning track time due to a wiring loom-related issue, but made up for lost time in the afternoon practice session by completing 40 laps around the legendary Suzuka Circuit.

Jolyon said: "It was a shame to lose time in Free Practice 1 this morning as I’d never properly driven here before. In contrast, everything was good in the afternoon and there’s more pace in the car than my lap time showed. It’s quite a technical circuit so I need to get the sequences just right, which is something to work on tomorrow. Otherwise, it feels as though we have a similar pace to that we had in Malaysia at this point. It bodes well for the rest of the weekend."

Bob Bell, Chief Technical Officer, said: "We got through most of the programme today despite losing time on Jolyon’s car with an electrical problem. It cut his session short during FP1 and lost us time normally used for information-gathering, but we recovered well in the afternoon and got what we needed in terms of data for qualifying and the race. It wasn’t the best start to the weekend but we have a good idea on what we need to do over the next two days. The balance of the car is reasonably strong and I think that we will be able to maintain the level of progress we have seen in the last few races."

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-05
Free practice 1: P22, 1:37.992, 13 laps
Free practice 2: P18, 1:34.760, 40 laps