Palmer focusing on consistency, hoping for points

Jolyon Palmer's knowledge of Shanghai's International Circuit is a welcome bonus for this weekend's China Grand Prix, but the Renault driver will still need to pull out all the stops to score his first championship points.

As Lotus' reserve driver last year, Palmer sampled the high-speed track, but his troubled debut this season, with a P11 finish in Melbourne and a retirement in Bahrain, means that the Brit has some catch up to do.

"As a power circuit with a fairly long straight, the track doesn't particularly suit us," Palmer warned.

"But I think we can be hoping for Q2, and from there for a place in the points."

"At the moment, the way the strategies are working out there's a lot that's open, and a lot of close racing. In terms of pure performance, we're not there in the top 10.

"But when you look at the whole race weekend, I think we have the capability of being there. We need to have a good qualifying and then a no-troubles race."

Despite the relative weakness of Renault's power unit, Palmer believes the fairly good overall balance of his RS16 chassis could help him achieve a good result.

"The car is reasonably forgiving and there are some long corners here where if you have a consistent car, I think in terms of mechanical grip we're not too bad. The biggest issue will be the straight-line speed."

Palmer hasn't had any complaints about his engine's reliability but he will be looking forward to Renault's next upgrade package set to be introduced in Montreal.

"Everything is okay on the engine side, it's been a step-forward from last year but we need more."

Chris Medland's 2016 Chinese Grand Prix preview

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