Renault Sport Formula One Team has announced that it will retain Jolyon Palmer for the 2017 season. Jolyon will join Nico Hülkenberg to complete the team’s 2017 race driver line-up.
25-year old Jolyon joined Renault Sport Formula One Team’s predecessor Lotus F1 Team as Third Driver at the start of the 2015 season, graduating to race driver for 2016 with Renault Sport Formula One Team. To date he has started 18 Grands Prix, scoring his first World Championship point at this year’s Malaysian Grand Prix. He is also the 2014 GP2 Series Champion.
“I’m over the moon to be racing with Renault Sport Formula One Team for a second season and I can’t wait to reward the team’s faith in me on track. Having worked out of Enstone since 2015 I can fully appreciate the development of the infrastructure this year. This means I share the excitement of the team looking to 2017 and our new car. For me, it’s been a steep learning curve driving in Formula 1 and I know that I am performing better than ever, and that there’s still more to come. There is tremendous drive and enthusiasm in Enstone and Viry looking to next year and I am honoured to be part of this,” said Jolyon Palmer.
“We are delighted to retain Jolyon as our driver for the 2017 season. Jolyon has shown his hunger to develop with us as the team grows and we have been impressed with his increasingly strong performances on track as the season has progressed. We are confident that the combination of Jolyon and Nico Hülkenberg offers a very promising driving force to meet our goals. Jolyon understands the team’s spirit and motivates everyone he works with. The line-up of Jolyon and Nico harnesses the benefits of continuity and fresh blood. I am sure that having Nico as a team-mate will help push Jolyon to greater achievements. We thank Kevin Magnussen for his efforts in 2016 as he has done a great job for us this year. We wish him all the best for 2017 and beyond,” said Jérôme Stoll, Renault Sport Racing Chairman.
Jolyon’s current team-mate, Kevin Magnussen, is expected to race for the Haas F1 team next season after signing a multi-year deal.
