A strong run up the order in Austria last year gives Jolyon Palmer cause for optimism heading to the hills of Spielberg.


What’s the challenge of Spielberg?

The Red Bull Ring is quite a simple track with just nine corners. Putting a good lap together is very important as the lap times are very close and any mistake can really hurt. I like that, though, as the driver can make more of a difference. There are some bumpy zones and some overtaking possibilities, such as turn one and turn two and the long straight joining them. There are some fast corners as well, including the penultimate corner which is pretty quick. Then the last corner has a bit of camber and you need to carry the speed through. It’s a fun circuit in an F1 car as there are some good straights and the tyre deg is very low so we can be flat out the whole race.


You had a positive race in Spielberg last season…

We started on the penultimate row last year but I managed to work my way up to twelfth, beating my team-mate. I was quite happy with the race, we just needed a little bit of extra luck and I think we could have been in the points. It is a circuit I enjoy having raced there in GP2 in 2014 and then a Free Practice session in 2015. It was definitely one of my strongest races of last season, so it is important to build on the knowledge we have and my confidence at the track and work towards a positive result. We need to change our luck. I hope we can make it all stick heading into the final few rounds before the summer break – beginning here.


How do you reflect on Baku?

There isn’t a lot to say from my weekend, but it was a crazy race to watch! I enjoyed watching it, but I wish I was in it, I think there were some points up for grabs for us. We will make sure we have a better one in Austria, the target is always the same; to bring home some points.