Renault Sport Formula One Team enjoyed a successful qualifying in the rain-affected session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Jolyon Palmer rounded off a strong day for the team, which marks the 40th anniversary of its first F1 race this weekend, by qualifying in 11th. 

The Brit advanced to Q2 for the third time this season with a lap of 1min 30.193secs round his home track. 

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.17-01, Q: P11 1:30.193 FP3: P14 1:30.302

"I had a really good feeling with the car today and I’m happy with that result. We could maybe have made up one tenth or so, but we’re starting in a much better place than we have done in recent races so I hope we can make progress and score some points tomorrow.

"I’m pretty confident that we can have a good race. The atmosphere all weekend has been awesome with so many Union Jacks in the stands – I’m loving the support. It’s good motivation and driving the track with these cars is so much fun at the moment."

Alan Permane, Sporting Director:

"A great job by the team. We are of course very happy with the result today. The aero updates used this weekend for the first time worked well and Jolyon just missed out on Q3 by the narrowest of margins. Nico is well placed for the race and Jo has a free tyre choice so we’re looking forward to the start and converting the result today to points tomorrow.

"The rain came just before the start of the session so it was not an easy one to manage. We were really pleased that we got through Q1 when it was evolving quickly, and then carried this momentum through to the next two sessions. Both drivers and the team did a great job in very changeable, difficult conditions."