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Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul has apologised to Jolyon Palmer after the struggling Briton failed to start his home Grand Prix at Silverstone due to a hydraulic leak.
Palmer had qualified eleventh on Saturday and was confident about finally achieving his first 2017 points in the race, only for the yellow #30 car to pull off on the formation lap with the terminal problem. It marked yet another mechanical setback for Palmer, who has failed to match team-mate Nico Hulkenberg this year and is said to be fighting for his seat. Abiteboul echoed his driver's disappointment, and could only say sorry, recognising that the situation was out of Palmer's hands.
"We have to say sorry to Jo as he finally had the starting position he needed and we all wanted him to get those first points," he said. "He almost certainly would have made it if we hadn't had the problem."
Whether or not this will damage Palmer's confidence heading to Hungary remains to be seen, but he will undoubtedly want to put a difficult British Grand Prix behind him and do better as the speculation around his future continues.
Mason Hawker
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (3)
Login to replyboudy
Posts: 1,168
So Jo is under pressure for performing yet his car has let him down so many times. Not sure if we are seeing a true reflection of his abilities. He was better than kmag in the latter part of last year. Not sure how much better engineers the other side of the garage has got. Also his team mate is pretty impresive. Sounds like a perfect storm for him at the moment. Yet he is showing some class when he gets interviewed. Hopefully he gets the change to proof himself. Doubt if he's in the renault seat next year.
yellowfly81
Posts: 79
Well said!
SPERX
Posts: 21
Seems to me that if Renault cannot provide him with a reliable car, he cannot be blamed for lack of performance. They need to produce two competing cars or get out of F1.