Jolyon Palmer can still be in the frame to retain his Renault seat for 2018 if he can turn-around his poor season to date, according to Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul.
The British driver has been under pressure for much of the season as he struggles to match teammate Nico Hulkenberg and has yet to score a point in 2017, despite several 11th place finishes.
Add to that, the recent speculation surrounding a possible return for Robert Kubica, following three tests for the Pole with the latest in this year’s car in Hungary two weeks ago and the outlook for Palmer looks bleak.
“Frankly, if he manages to turn around the situation, which he did last year, we are completely open to a future between the team and Jo for one more season,” Abiteboul told Autosport.
“Stability would be good for the team. That’s also what we wanted last year – to have Nico changing we wanted not to have to change two drivers. Things could go his [Palmer’s] way, but at the end of the day, that’s in his hands.
“He knows that right now he’s on a one-year contract and completely understands the team has to assess its options for the future.”
Renault has often defended Palmer’s poor form on the back of persistent reliability concerns and that was a line Abiteboul continued to support.
“We’ve seen very good things with Jo, both during the winter tests, during the season, during a session,” he claimed. “He’s capable of extracting really good pace from the car, doing a very good job, providing accurate feedback, being very committed to the team.
“At the same time, there’s been a mix of mistakes, missed opportunities – clearly not assisted by circumstance with reliability that has been clearly weaker on his side of the garage.
“Very rapidly what this sort of mix has created is, I believe, a lack of confidence – a lack of confidence in himself, a lack of ability to put his head down in the difficulties that will encounter any driver in a race weekend or in a season.
“And that lack of confidence has started to kick off in a sort of snowball and has led to the situation we have now.”
What has been most frustrating from Renault’s perspective is the strong pace Hulkenberg has shown, particularly in recent races as the Enstone operation bring more updates to the car. But with only the German scoring it has left the French manufacturer eighth in Constructors’ Championship compared to a recently revised goal of sixth.
“I’m really trying to protect Jo and to confirm to Jo almost on a daily basis my and the team’s commitment and full support – in order to recreate the confidence in himself and in the team,” Abiteboul added. “It’s not the job of one day.”
