Jolyon Palmer has claimed he is not worried about his critics, believing he is under no pressure regarding his immediate future in Formula 1.

The former GP2 champion, who is yet to score a point in 2017, insists results are not reflecting the real effort and pace he is putting, yet the Briton did not deny the disappointing results but admitted he is motivated to overcome the odds.

"What puts pressure on is not putting in good performances," he said. "I am aware that the start of the year has been pretty disappointing, but I am working hard and I am ready to turn it around.

"In terms of the rumours, there have been rumours since my third ever race in Formula 1, so it is nothing new for me.

"The way to stop it is to do well on track and hopefully I can do that this weekend."

Palmer is hoping to use the momentum from a good drive at the Monaco Grand Prix last time out, that earned him his best result of the season so far in 11th, after starting P16.

"It's a confidence boost," he admitted.

"There have been some positives recently, even if it doesn't necessarily show on the results sheets, but Monaco at least... a race distance, and we were pretty competitive in terms of times.

"When you start 16th it's difficult to make any overtakes or do much else, running in traffic, but at least with the better pace we can take a bit of confidence [from it]."