Palmer blames kerb shape for FP1 crash

Editor

Jolyon Palmer says the reprofiling of the Tour Four kerb that he ran across in Hungary caused his FP1 accident.

The Renault driver’s session came to a premature end on Friday morning when running over a kerb at the exit to Turn Four shattered his front wing.

That, though, wasn’t the only damage to the car and Palmer was unable to return to the pits, bringing out the red flags.

Explaining what went wrong, he told Sky Sports: “As you do, you run a bit wide there and suddenly, that kerb is massive.

“People have been running wide there for years so you don’t expect it to destroy the front of the car.”

Asked what had changed this year, he replied: “There is a bigger drop now to try and stop you going off and getting an advantage.

“It is a lot more severe than it has ever been before.

“I don’t expect it and went in a bit hot and didn’t expect it to cause that damage.

“It did a lot of damage.”

As for his FP2 shunt in which the car snapped as he entered Turn 11, Palmer refused to chat to the media as he walked back to the Renault garage.

He did, however, have one answer, and one word.

Asked if the car was okay, he replied: “No.”

He later stated in the Renault press release:  “My car didn’t feel right from the start of FP2, and this contributed to me putting it in the wall.”