Palmer expecting to be 'more on it' in Austria

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Jolyon Palmer's baptism of fire in Grand Prix racing has been a difficult one this season, marked by an under-performing car and a few mistakes of his own as the rookie driver learns his trade.

But the British remains more motivated than ever to succeed and attempt to secure a few good results over the summer, staring with next weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

Despite a lackluster race in Baku, Palmer looked back on his weekend in Azerbaijan with a fair amount of satisfaction.

"Actually I feel very positive about the overall Baku weekend, even though I don’t have a lot to show for it! The yellow flags in qualifying cost us a lot and then I made some mistakes in the race.

"The crux of my problems came in turn one: I got a good start, but then locked up and flat spotted the tyres under braking for the corner.

"This meant I had to do another pit stop, without which I think we could have been a bit higher up and ahead of both Haas cars. But on the whole the car was OK and we are making progress."

The fast and challenging sweeps of the Red Bull Ring should theoretically better suit the qualities of Renault's RS 16 chassis, and Palmer will be lloking to extract the most of his yellow machine.

"Yes, I’m looking forward to getting back into the European heartland," Palmer says.

"Unfortunately we were not that competitive in Baku but we should be more on it in Austria, which is a faster circuit and should suit our car a lot better.

"The Red Bull Ring is quite a simple track, with just seven corners. Putting a good lap together is very important as the lap times are very close and any mistake can really hurt. I like that though, as the driver can make more of a difference.

Fortunately, the Brit will have some previous race experience when he takes to the track on Friday, having raced in Austria in GP2 as well as having run in last year's FP1 with Lotus.

"There are some bumpy zones and some overtaking possibilities, such as turn one and turn two. There are some fast corners as well, including the second-last corner that is pretty quick.

"Then the last corner has a bit of camber and you need to carry the speed through. It’s a lot more fun in an F1 car as there are more straightlines and the tyre deg is very low so we can be flat out the whole race."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.