A large, enthusiastic crowd welcomed Renault Sport Formula One Team’s Jolyon Palmer today (8 July) as he took to the Silverstone circuit for two free practice sessions. The young F1 rookie, who will be participating in his first British Grand Prix this weekend, ended the day placed P16 and P18 with 70 laps on the board.

The team completed its usual Friday programme, going through set-up work and aero tests in the morning session with high-fuel runs and tyres being the focus in the afternoon’s practice. Pirelli’s medium (white) and soft (yellow) compound tyres were used in both the first and second sessions.

“Silverstone is a great track, with loads of great fans and I enjoyed driving out there today,” Jolyon enthused. “It was a typical Friday for us on track. We tried out two different tyre compounds and low fuel levels, plus a run on high fuel. 

“We were on the medium tyre for most of the day: it has a low working range so it is difficult to build up temperature and the car can feel inconsistent to drive at the start. It got very windy out there at times too, which didn’t help. The soft gives very good grip over one lap, but then degrades quickly.

“I think it was an OK result; it looks like we are in a similar position to normal. I am sure we can find something tomorrow, and we have to maximise what we can do. It seems we’ll have British weather all weekend, but a bit of rain mixing it up would be good for us!” 

“Both Jolyon and Kevin [Magnussen] did a very solid job in at times difficult weather conditions and completed their programmes according to plan,” added Renault Trackside Operations Director Alan Permane. 

“We have some further work planned to improve our performance, particularly in low-speed corners, which should see us better our lap times tomorrow.”

Jolyon will be back behind the wheel for the third practice session at 10am UK time on Saturday, with qualifying to follow at 1pm.