Renault Sport Formula One Team’s Jolyon Palmer finished just half a second away from the points with his third eleventh place finish of the season in the Austrian Grand Prix whilst Nico Hülkenberg finished in P13 as a consequence of a poor start off the line.
Jolyon hounded P10 finisher Lance Stroll for most of the race but was unable to find a way past, whilst Nico dropped back from P11 at the start as his car’s anti-stall kicked in.
The team now heads to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.
• Nico started the race from P11 on a new set of Supersoft Pirelli tyres, changing to a new set of Soft tyres on lap 14.
• Jolyon started the race from P16 on a new set of Soft Pirelli tyres, pitting on lap 34 for a new set of Ultrasoft tyres, with which he finished the race.
Nico Hülkenberg, #27, R.S.17-04: Started P11, finished P13.
“It was a difficult race for me. I had a terrible start; I triggered the anti-stall mode where the clutch kicks in to protect a stall from the engine, because grip on the grid is quite high here. That was the beginning of the end for me. I was almost last before the first corner and from then onwards it was clear that it was going to be a difficult afternoon. We were struggling on the Supersoft tyres with overheating as well as with balance and grip. We decided to do an early first stop, putting on the Softs, but then the leaders were coming through and I had blue flags twice, losing huge amounts of time. It was pretty difficult today; we need to review what happened and fully focus on Silverstone.”
Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.17-02: Started P16, finished P13.
“We started in P16 and finished eleventh, it’s my third race with an eleventh place finish, once more within touching distance of points! I had Lance Stroll in my way for just over forty laps and couldn’t get past him, which is frustrating. I need to focus on qualifying better, but throughout the weekend the pace seemed improved so overall there are some positives. It’s my home race coming up, and Silverstone’s a great track with a lot of fast corners and it’s one I really like to drive, so hopefully that can be the one that gets me in the points.”
Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director
“After Baku, the Austrian Grand Prix represents the second opportunity we missed to score points. Despite a generally good race, starting in P16 didn’t give Jo the opportunity to finish in the points. Again, we need to qualify better to score on Sundays. Nico’s race was very difficult – he had a bad start that needs to be investigated, in addition, we need to understand why his pace wasn’t aligned with the rest of weekend. On a positive note, we see that our engine programme is heading in the right direction, allowing for a strong race pace and a new podium. We are turning the page and look forward to a quick turnaround to Silverstone. The British Grand Prix marks the beginning of a sequence of strong chassis developments. We continue to work hard to reach our targets.”
