Jolyon Palmer has admitted his axing by Renault at the end of the year is “understandable” after the difficulties he has faced both with reliability and personal performance in 2017.
In Singapore, it was confirmed the former GP2 champion would be replaced by Carlos Sainz, who joins on a year-long loan while remaining in the Red Bull stable.
The main criticism many have had of the British driver is the performance gap to Nico Hulkenberg when his car has been healthy and how he hasn’t been able to back up the German’s results with points of his own.
“I’ve got a car that can score points and I am focused on doing the best job that I can,” Palmer said, after scoring his first of the year at Marina Bay. “I would have loved it if the team had signed me for next year but with the way that the season has gone it is understandable that it has not happened. It has been a tough year all round.
“I want to go out with my head held high and prove I can do the job. At the end of the day, the decision has been made so I’ve got six races to do what I can and I’ve got the kit to do the job.”
Questions over his immediate future appear to have died down with little talk of the once speculated early switch of Sainz from the next race in Malaysia and should he see out the year, Palmer is confident he can maintain the better form he showed last weekend.
“The next couple of races should be good for us and even stronger than Singapore,” he said. “I’m still excited for the performance we’ve got as a team and still excited to be racing in a competitive car that I think is the fourth best, especially when we move on to the next few tracks, so there is a lot to be encouraged by. I’m not worried about next year.”
