Jolyon Palmer is confident that Renault has rectified the problem which severely hampered his prospects during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Palmer endured a disrupted weekend at Albert Park, with his first practice session truncated by a split CV boot, before he crashed out of the second session at the final corner.
Palmer returned to action during Saturday’s running but qualified last, a second off nearest rival Lance Stroll, after which he labelled his Renault RS.17 a “disaster", believing there to be a fundamental problem with his car.
The Briton made progress in the race, before retiring due to a brake complaint, with Technical Director Nick Chester since confirming that Renault "didn’t give him a car that was working properly."
Palmer is confident that he can display stronger form across the course of this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, following the resolution of his Australia woes.
“It’s a clean slate approach for me as Australia was a bit of a shocker,” Palmer said.
“Fortunately the team was able to find the particular gremlin which affected me over the weekend so I’m heading to Shanghai as if it’s my first race of the season.
“Albert Park was a really frustrating start to the season so I’m looking to get more laps on the board and more progress in the race.
“Obviously, there were many factors out of my hands in Australia, so the team’s checked over the car very carefully to ensure we don’t see a repeat of any of the same issues.”
Team-mate Nico Hülkenberg reckons Renault is lagging slightly behind some of its midfield rivals, having placed 11th in Australia, but is confident of inching into the fight.
“Australia was slightly frustrating as we could have done better with the pace we had in the car but traffic was an issue for most of the race,” he said. “Our tyre strategy didn’t help us either.
“It looks like we’re in the midfield with some of our rivals slightly ahead, but certainly in reach, and Shanghai is a very different track from Albert Park, so let’s see what happens.”
