Jolyon Palmer left ‘Gutted’ after Points-Denying Half-Spin

Jolyon Palmer has left Budapest ruing the missed opportunity to score his first championship points after spinning out at the top of turn-4 on lap 48.

Renault were on for a rare points finish after a disappointing qualifying in which timing saw them bow out of Q3 after showing flashes of wet-weather pace. Palmer had a good race up until his spin, the Renault-powered RS16 looked unusually competitive.

But it wasn’t to be, the elusive off-camber corner catching the young Brit out just as the race was coming together for him. He said this after the race,

“I’m gutted as my first points in Formula 1 were there for the taking. The car was good and I was driving well within myself.

I turned in the same as normal at turn four but for some reason I lost the car in a massive snap.”

– Jolyon Palmer

The snap he’s referring to is the rear-end of the car over-correcting the direction change under steering, throw in that the corner in question was off-camber (tricky elevation change that upsets the balance of the car) and you have a spinning Palmer.

I'm gutted. The car was great and the team did a top job. Points were there, I need to understand what happened. Lots of positives though 🇭🇺

— Jolyon Palmer (@JolyonPalmer) July 24, 2016

He lost four places as a result and missed out the chance to fight with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, who was catching Palmer’s Renault at a reasonable pace. The spin cost him massively, it’s hard to see which upcoming circuits will cover the power deficit for the Renault team in the same way that the Hungaroring did.

The biggest possibility will be Singapore, another twisty track that doesn’t allow drivers to take a break from steering. That Grand Prix weekend may prove to be the most important race of Palmer’s career, so he simply needs to deliver.

Palmer will be eager to catch Magnussen in the driver standings, the Dane has 6 points after an incredible showing at the Russian GP.