Renault Sport Formula One Team driver Jolyon Palmer enjoyed an encouraging day at the Hungaroring today (23 July), and whilst circumstances conspired to deny him a better grid position, he nonetheless ably proved his potential behind the wheel of the R.S.16.

A combination of developments brought to the car and the circuit characteristics produced a significant upturn in form for the team, and the young British F1 rookie was quick to take full advantage, concluding the final free practice session in a superb tenth position.

Hopes were justifiably high of progressing through to Q2 in qualifying, but those hopes were subsequently dashed by a rain-affected session plagued by a series of red flags.

Being on-track at the right time in the changeable weather was critical – and for a variety of reasons, Jolyon missed out on the optimum conditions. In the longest Q1 in recent memory, his final effort was scuppered by a fourth and final stoppage.

With insufficient time for the action to re-start, the 25-year-old Southwater racer will lead the Renault charge in tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix from a disappointed 17^th on the grid – but confident of moving forward.

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-04

Free practice 3: P10, 1:21.935

Qualifying: P17, 1:43.965

Jolyon said: “P10 was great; unfortunately, it came in FP3, not qualifying! Today has actually been really good, with the tenth-fastest time this morning in a normal dry session, which was a real boost. In the wet, we were at least as good, but we weren’t on-track at the right time in Q1. I set one lap at the beginning of the session and didn’t have a chance to set another as the red flags came out at the wrong times for us. Slowly but surely, our rivals had the luck to get the laps they needed, but the red flags meant I was never able to improve. Whatever the weather tomorrow, I think we will be moving forward which is what we want. It could be a great race.”

Alan Permane, Renault Sport Formula One Team Trackside Operations Director added: “We had great potential, and the pace of the car looks good as we saw in FP3 this morning. Unfortunately, we saw a very unusual Q1 which was delayed and then interrupted numerous times by red flags, so it took 74 minutes instead of the usual 18! The red flags came exactly when we didn’t want them, and that really hurt our session. We are now looking at every means to move forward in the race. We know we’ve shown better pace here than we’ve seen recently, but we also know that the Hungaroring is not an easy circuit at which to overtake. We’ll be watching the weather closely, too, as today’s downpours were not expected at all.”