Jolyon Palmer is brimming with optimism as he looks ahead to his first Formula One Grand Prix race in just under a week in Albert Park, Melbourne.
The 25-year-old Briton spent a year as Lotus F1's test and development driver during a troubled 2015, which including several appearances for Palmer in Free Practice 1 sessions. With the team's takeover by Renault now complete, he's confident that the newly rebranded squad has turned the page and has a bright future ahead of it.
"I am really looking forward to Friday when the 22 cars are out on track, pounding round," he said.
"I think everything will be ready. We always keep working on performance but when it comes to a race weekend you give it your all to achieve a good result. It will be busy for us in the race but I feel I’m in an OK position right now."
Palmer had a somewhat torrid time of it in pre-season testing. While his team mate Kevin Magnussen had a productive time in the car, it seemed that any time something could go wrong, it chose to do so when it was Palmer's turn to take over.
"I was unlucky in that every day I picked up a problem, which has cost us a few hours," Palmer agreed. "We had some frustrations but in the end we managed to get some good performance running in.
"It’s not what you want when you’re a rookie, but all the same I have done a reasonable amount of laps and Kevin has had four very good days so we have been able to gather a lot of information on the car.
"We know it is a strong basis to start from and we’ll keep working to deliver more performance."
Palmer added that his experience in the car last year had been "a big help" when it came to learning the various procedures.
"Even though I did not get the greatest amount of laps in [pre-season] testing, I don’t feel too behind and know that when we turn up in Melbourne it will be OK."
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