Palmer aims for a reserve role in F1 for 2015
Despite his GP2 championship title, Jolyon Palmer will not make his F1 debut this year. The English driver nonetheless hopes to have the opportunity to become a test driver for an F1 team for the 2015 season to aim for better in 2016.
The reigning GP2 champion, Jolyon Palmer, hopes to secure a test driver position for the F1 season, failing to obtain a race seat. Felipe Nasr, who finished third in the GP2 championship, will make his debut with Sauber, while Jolyon Palmer had a test session with Force India at the end of the 2014 season, without being retained.
« As a GP2 champion, I am not ready to give up on my Formula 1 dream. I think there will be opportunities in the future. But for this year it’s not going to happen, because there are 18 cars and already 18 drivers in their seats. So now we have to focus on what’s best, which is to work with an F1 team and try to accumulate miles in a car and prepare for 2016, » Palmer revealed at the AUTOSPORT International Show.
The FIA has recently unveiled a points system for future applicants, which means that young drivers will need to gain experience in order to obtain a super license. Palmer believes that things are moving in the right direction, even though for the English driver the allocation of points may pose a problem: « I think it’s not a bad thing to have criteria for obtaining a super license. Previously, you could obtain a super license by completing sufficient mileage and you could achieve sufficient mileage during tests by paying for it. »
« Establishing criteria is good. I think I probably shouldn’t comment on the criteria, but there are many drivers on the grid who wouldn’t be admitted into F1 with these criteria – Max Verstappen, and Carlos Sainz as well, even though he’s the [Formula Renault 3.5 champion], » concluded Palmer.
