Palmer: 'I've been guilty of overdriving the car'

Pressure is mounting big time on Jolyon Palmer as the Renault struggles for a result and ultimately to save his career in F1.

With zero points on the board, the Brit's performance has fallen well short of expectations this season, especially compared to the solid run enjoyed by his team mate Nico Hulkenberg.

Palmer admits he has perhaps focused excessively on the German, but he also believes his approach to his own driving has sometimes been wrong.

I've got to drive the best I can drive and whatever happens on the other side, that's another story really," said Palmer.

"Nico is doing a really good job, he's extremely quick, especially in qualifying. I've just got to be happy with the job I'm doing, which is to get the most I can out of the car.

"Previously, maybe I have been guilty of being too distracted and overdriving at times.  It's just focusing on what I'm doing and not always looking at the other side of the garage."

• Renault issues clear warning to Jolyon Palmer

Renault Sport F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul has warned Palmer that he needs to improve, and that starts with qualifying where the 26-year-old is at a loss to explain the average deficit with Hulkenberg.

"For me, my focus is to drive well and if I'm driving well, then I need a better set-up to get more out of the tyres.

"Some places we've gone, there's been more in the driving. For me, there have been little mistakes here and there, but sometimes I'm happy with how I'm doing and there is still a gap there - so I don't know."

Palmer also points to Pirelli's 2017 tyres  as another potential source of his problems, something a few of his colleagues would perhaps agree with.

"When they are in, you have grip, but when they are not in, you don't have grip - it's a pretty massive difference.

"It's why people are struggling at certain times and then for no apparent reason they find pace. Normally it's because they are working the tyres better and you have grip.

"The tyres are much more sensitive than they were last year. Last year was much easier to deal with and the window seemed to be a bit wider."

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