Renault Sport Formula One Team’s Jolyon Palmer scored his first FIA Formula One World Championship point in today’s hot and fast-paced Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix.

Jolyon put his disappointment from yesterday’s qualifying behind him to deliver in emphatic fashion with a tenth-placed finish from P19 on the grid, thanks to a one-stop strategy, starting on new hard tyres before switching to a new set of soft tyres on lap 31.

Jolyon Palmer said: “Point-scorer – that feels good! I’m really happy. I think the whole week has been really positive. The race was really smooth – I wish it was always so straightforward! I was really disappointed with how qualifying went, especially as I’d been feeling strong all weekend, so I’m glad the race went really well and we could make up for it today.

“The car gave me everything I needed, we handled the tyres well and the team did a great job with the strategy and pit-stops. We got a little bit of a break as well; finally everything came together and we got it home in P10!”

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal of Renault Sport Formula One Team added: “Congratulations to Jo for scoring his first point in Formula One. After a disappointing qualifying yesterday, he got his head down and delivered a very good race. We ran to an aggressive strategy and Jo did everything required to make this work, so a great effort from him and the team today.

“Today we saw once more that everyone in the team is pushing in the same direction, and we will continue to fight for every point possible in the remaining five races this season.”

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-05: Started P19; Finished P10