Abiteboul imposing no ultimatum on Palmer

Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul has revealed that he isn’t imposing an ultimatum on Jolyon Palmer. Having failed to make an impression so far in 2017, being beaten by Nico Hulkenberg consistently in both qualifying and in the race, rumours persist that Palmer could be dropped mid-season.

Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, Abiteboul said:"We cannot afford this situation. Jolyon must be able to make a contribution, but I have no doubt that he can. So I place no ultimatum on him. He and we know he can take this car into the points, and that's what he needs to do.”

"It is clearly a matter of self-confidence," Abiteboul added. "He has not lost his qualities as a driver that we saw last year and in GP2. There have been reliability problems on his car and a teammate who is extremely fast, and he fell into a downward spiral. Now I want to protect him and his family.”

When asked about dropping Palmer mid-season, Abiteboul answered:  "At this time I rule it out. It is a hard time for him and for us, but we go through it together."

Due to Palmer’s unimpressive performances of 2017 so far, a number of drivers have been linked to the second Renault seat in 2018 including Fernando Alonso, Robert Kubica, and Sergey Sirotkin. Due to this battle shaping up to be closely fought for the final seat, it is vital that Palmer begins to deliver for Renault soon if he wants to keep his Formula 1 dreams alive.

Chris Soulsby