Renault Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul has challenged Jolyon Palmer to improve his one-lap pace, in order to contribute to the manufacturer’s points tally in 2017.
Palmer has been out-qualified at each event by team-mate Nico Hülkenberg, with the Briton also eliminated in Q1 on five occasions.
Palmer started from 15th in Canada, five places behind Hülkenberg, and raced to 11th spot, three positions down on Hülkenberg, who has amassed all of Renault’s 18 points this season.
Abiteboul believes that Palmer needs to focus on his one-lap performance in order to stand a stronger chance of adding to Renault’s tally.
“Jo had a similar strategy [to Hülkenberg] and he now has two P11 finishes in a row,” Abiteboul said of Palmer’s race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
“The priority moving forward is for him to qualify higher in order to get a shot at winning some points and contribute to the team’s effort to gain ground in the Constructors’ Championship.
“[The] race allowed us to reduce the deficit between us and Williams, as we are aiming for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship before the mid-season break.”
Palmer rued his fortune after finishing just a second behind Romain Grosjean in the battle for the final points-paying position.
“This is very frustrating,” Palmer said of his Montréal race.
“I lost a lot at the start with the mayhem, I lost positions then got stuck behind Grosjean for about 60 laps and couldn’t get close enough to attack him.
“I think the pace was a bit better and if I could have started a couple of places higher, we could have gotten into the points.”
