Jolyon Palmer looking to close the gap to Kevin Magnussen

Jolyon Palmer has said he is looking to improve his qualifying record against team mate Kevin Magnussen.

Magnussen, who spent the 2014 season racing for McLaren, has out qualified the British driver in eight race so far this season, with Palmer having the upper hand twice.

But despite the unflattering record against his team mate, Palmer believes he's not too far off the Dane's pace.

"Obviously he’s got a bit more experience than me and he’s had a few of seasons working with a top team so he’s a good yardstick," Palmer said. "It’s true he’s been just ahead of me in qualifying at many races but when you look at the actual lap times it’s so very close, we’re talking just a tenth or hundredths. Somehow it falls just so very slightly on Kev’s side.

"The races are often just as close and we’re often fighting for the same piece of track. This shows that we’re both generally getting the most out of the car for any given circumstance so this is beneficial for the team," he continued. "I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to be the one who’s a tenth or so quicker in qualifying; maybe we can make that happen in Budapest."

This weekend Palmer will race in Hungary for the first time as a Formula One driver. While he is a race winner at the circuit in GP", Palmer still thinks that he has a lot to learn going into this weekend.

"Obviously this will be my first Grand Prix there so there’s lots to think about. In particular, the circuit has been resurfaced so that’s an unknown – it might help us, it might not; we won’t know until we get there," he said. "New track surfaces are always a little bit of a venture into the unknown as you don’t know how much grip there will be, how the surface will evolve over the weekend and how the tyres will perform with the surface.

"Of course, a new surface doesn’t change the layout or make a significant difference to your approach to a particular circuit but nevertheless it does give an additional focus."