Jolyon Palmer once again cut a frustrated figure as a race playing second fiddle to his teammate Nico Hulkenberg cost him points at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Briton started as the lead of the two cars for the French manufacturer, following a five-place gearbox grid penalty for his German partner after qualifying, however, lacked the pace again to capitalise as he was then ordered to let a faster Hulkenberg by early in the race.
Later, a change in strategy to also benefit his teammate would drop him down to 12th meaning he is still yet to score a point in 2017.
“The start was okay, but I lost out when I had to avoid Ricciardo, who suddenly slowed and that dropped me out of the top 10,” Palmer said.
“As well as letting him through, my strategy was compromised today to try and help Nico’s race, and that meant Magnussen and Kvyat jumped me.
“It was a frustrating run to the flag with much more pace, but no chance to overtake them on this track.”
It is not known what impact this will have on his future, with Robert Kubica running the 2017 Renault in Budapest on Wednesday and having missed managing director Cyril Abiteboul’s target of seeing the Enstone outfit sixth in the Constructors’ Championship by the end of July, as they currently sit eighth.
However, Palmer is simply focused on what will be a crucial final nine races of the season in an effort to effectively save his F1 career.
“Now I’m looking forward to summer break and switching off from racing to reset for Belgium,” he commented.
