F1 | Renault: Abiteboul rejects rumors of Palmer's departure

What happened on the Sunday morning of the Silverstone GP to the Renault team and its driver who was most in difficulty was incredible, Jolyon Palmer. His future, which had been rather uncertain for some time, was put into serious question during the British weekend, with the media starting to speculate on a sensational replacement of him with Carlos Sainz as early as the following race in Hungary.

The boss of the team, Cyril Abiteboul, he was thus forced to speak directly with Palmer to prevent these unfounded rumors from compromising his concentration ahead of the race.

“I immediately rejected any speculation about his replacement in Budapest – Abiteboul told Autosport – it wasn't a good thing, especially on Sunday morning. As soon as I discovered the proposition he had taken from a communication point of view, I clarified with everyone that there was absolutely nothing true and I also told Jolyon directly. I wanted him to put that thought out of his mind before the race."

Things then, unfortunately for him, did not go as hoped, with the driver parking his car during the reconnaissance lap due to a brake problem. Terrible result, made worse by the great one sixth place for Hulkenberg, which effectively achieved Renault's best placing of the year.

“We are extremely sorry for Jo – said Abiteboul – I am sure that with everything that happened today, and looking at Nico's pace, he would have had all the capabilities to finish in the points. It's not really a good moment, but he knows that he has all our support and all our commitment. What happened to him is a big disappointment because he felt very good with the car and was rebuilding his confidence."

Despite this, however, there are prospects for improvement: “The potential of the single-seater is there and this is the simplest way to regain confidence and motivation. Even though there have been some difficult moments, we know that we will be competitive tomorrow. Our priority is to find reliability."

Manuel Lai