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Jolyon Carlyle Palmer (born 20 January 1991) is a British former racing driver, broadcaster and journalist, who competed in Formula One from to . Since retiring from racing, Palmer has been a pundit for the BBC, Channel 4 and F1TV.
Prior to his media career, Palmer was a racing driver and the 2014 GP2 Series champion. Palmer drove for Renault Sport F1 Team in Formula One. He made his Formula One debut with the team at the start of the season, during which he scored his first World Championship points at the . Palmer stayed with Renault for through to the .
Palmer, the son of former F1 driver and major UK race circuit owner Jonathan Palmer, was educated at Dorset House School, after which he attended Cranleigh School and the University of Nottingham (from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Management Studies in 2012). He drove for the Lotus Formula One team as a test driver in 2015, stepping up to a full-time race seat the following season when the team received manufacturer backing from Renault.
After being dropped by Renault during the 2017 season, Palmer became an F1 analyst for BBC and the F1 app alongside Jack Nicholls. He is a regular columnist on the BBC Sport website and is also a special contributor to the official F1 website, hosting Jolyon Palmer's Analysis following each Grand Prix.
He recovered in time for the start of the 2008 season, in which he was a championship challenger right up until the last few races of the season. Palmer secured one win (at the overseas race at Spa) and 11 podiums along with three pole positions and ended up just 22 points behind Jason Moore, in third place. The Autumn Trophy and the FPA Shootout also brought third places for Palmer, taking three podiums from the six races.
Palmer made a one-off return to F2 during the 2011 season at the Nürburgring, but was a non-starter in both races.
At Hungary he prevailed in wheel-to-wheel contests with Felipe Nasr in both races, and tensions boiled over during the Sprint Race podium ceremony.
At Monza, Palmer was forced to start at the back of the grid for the Feature Race, after his DAMS car was found to have less than the mandatory one litre of fuel remaining, having originally qualified fourth. Despite this, he finished eighth in the Feature Race, securing reverse grid pole for the Sprint Race, which he won to further extend his championship lead.
Palmer clinched the championship at the first possible attempt, with a fourth win of the year at the new Sochi circuit in Russia. He won the title with three races to spare, and achieved an all-time points record in the series.
Speaking just after clinching the title he said:
It wasn't going to be easy to win the championship this weekend, especially today after missing out on pole yesterday. I can't thank the team enough, they've done an incredible job all year, we've been fighting for pretty much every Feature Race win and every pole with almost no mistakes. It feels amazing to be champion!The pressure is off us now and we've got another race tomorrow and another round at Abu Dhabi. We can go out now, enjoy it and have some fun!
Looking through the list of previous GP2 Champions, they're all unbelievable drivers, and to be on that list is something which can't be taken away from me, it's an incredible feeling.
On 19 November it was announced that Palmer would drive for the Force India at the Abu Dhabi post-season test on 25 November.
Palmer made his debut in the team's 2015 challenger, the E23 Hybrid, on day two of the official pre-season test in Barcelona. Completing 77 laps, he ran a programme focused on data gathering and development work. He finished the day in eighth place. Lotus F1 Team's Trackside Operations Director Alan Permane said: "Today was about data accumulation and Jolyon did a great job in his first time in the car, especially with the particularly cold conditions to start the session in the morning."
He went on to make his Formula One debut on a Grand Prix weekend as he took to the track in Free Practice One at the third round of the 2015 season in China. Palmer completed a packed schedule of aerodynamic and set-up work to finish in 15th place overall on his first visit to the Shanghai circuit.
In his next outing at the Bahrain International Circuit, Palmer ended the session in 14th position, 0.441s shy of teammate Pastor Maldonado. He drove in Free Practice One at the Spanish Grand Prix, recording the 13th fastest time and finishing ahead of Maldonado, before topping the timesheets on the second day of the in-season test in Barcelona on Wednesday 13 May. On 11 June 2015 it was announced that he would drive in Free Practice 1 for the rest of the European season, a total of 5 Grands Prix, which would take him from Austria to Italy, replacing Frenchman Romain Grosjean.
He continued in FP1 in both Austria and Britain, his home Grand Prix, to finish in 14th position before suffering from limited running in Hungary. Palmer tested a new front-wing for Lotus F1 Team in the next Free Practice One session at Spa-Francorchamps, as Romain Grosjean came home third in the Belgian Grand Prix that weekend. Palmer took part in several further sessions, his final appearance in the Lotus E23 coming at the Abu Dhabi season closer, where technical issues limited him to just 10 minutes' running.
A car issue in the next races in Bahrain and China prevented Palmer from showing his true form but he bounced back in the Russian Grand Prix, finishing a strong 13th having started 18th on the grid. He repeated that result in the Spanish Grand Prix, coming home ahead of team-mate Magnussen. After an early exit in Monaco, a water leak put an end to his race in Canada before he finished the European Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, in a creditable 15th.
Palmer recorded his best result since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as he came home in 12th in Austria before competing in his maiden home Grand Prix at Silverstone. That ended in disappointment as he suffered a suspected gearbox problem which led to his retirement on lap 38, but he produced a career-best drive next time out in the Hungarian Grand Prix as he narrowly missed out on a maiden points scoring finish in Formula 1, finishing 12th. An opening lap clash ended his German Grand Prix before he led the Renault charge at Spa-Francorchamps in the Belgian Grand Prix, coming home in 15th. Palmer's Italian Grand Prix came to a premature end as he once again led the way for the French manufacturer, as Sauber's Felipe Nasr hit the Brit and eventually forced his retirement from the race on safety grounds.
At the Malaysian Grand Prix, Palmer had his best result to date and claimed his first World Championship point. He finished 10th, 14 seconds behind Jenson Button's McLaren and three seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz in a Toro Rosso. On 9 November 2016, Renault announced that Palmer had extended his deal with them for 2017.
Renault unveiled its brand new R.S.17 at a special launch event in London on 22 January, in a yellow and black livery, adorned with Jolyon's signature race number, 30.
Palmer made his first public appearance behind the wheel of the R.S.17 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain in late February, ending the week with the third fastest time on the final day, behind only the Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. On the day after he learned that he would be losing his seat for 2018, he survived a race of attrition at the Singapore Grand Prix to gain a career-best finish of sixth, securing his only points of the season.
On 7 October 2017, Renault announced that Palmer would leave the team after the end of the Japanese Grand Prix, to be replaced by Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz Jr, taking his seat from the United States Grand Prix onwards. Palmer revealed seven years later that Renault did not tell them their decision before the announcement; he first found out when his brother sent him the news from an Autosport article during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend and had to force a conversation with Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul to confirm it was true. In that same revelation, Palmer stated he "didn't know" the reasoning for Renault's sudden move.
Palmer offers further insight and analysis from the point of view of the competitor with his regular post-Grand Prix column on the BBC website. He is also a Special Contributor to www.formula1.com, analysing racing incidents using all available camera angles. Palmer has appeared as a guest presenter alongside Will Buxton on F1 Live, Liberty Media's post-race paddock show that is available free across the world on social media.
Palmer has also written for Sky Sports F1, with a GP2 Diary posted after each event during his time in the series. He was the regular co-commentator for the GP2 Series on Sky Sports F1 in 2015, and previously commentated alongside future BBC partner Jack Nicholls on the FIA Formula Two Championship.
It was revealed in February 2020 that Palmer would provide expert analysis on the pre-season testing in Barcelona, ahead of the 2020 F1 season.
As of 2024, Palmer is working with F1 TV, BBC Sport and Channel 4 as a colour commentator on F1 Live and has his own show on F1 TV named Jolyon Palmer's Analysis, where he reviews each recent Formula One race.
In the actual Race of Champions event, Palmer lost to Tom Kristensen, Pascal Wehrlein and Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Palmer returned to compete in the 2015 Race of Champions on home soil at the Olympic Stadium in London as part of the Young Stars pairing, once again racing alongside Pascal Wehrlein. The duo were beaten in the quarter finals by England's touring car drivers Andy Priaulx and Jason Plato, before Palmer was edged out by GT racer Alex Buncombe in the individual competition.
Palmer was nominated for the Autosport Awards British Competition Driver of the Year in 2014, losing out to Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
He collected the British Racing Drivers' Club's Fairfield Trophy in 2014, which is awarded to a BRDC member for outstanding performance throughout the year. The ceremony was attended by Lewis Hamilton, 1996 World Champion Damon Hill and BRDC president Derek Warwick.
Palmer is a supporter of Ipswich Town F.C. and Crystal Palace F.C.
| T Cars Autumn Trophy | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 61 | 1st | |
| T Cars | PalmerSport Junior | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 11th |
| Formula Palmer Audi Autumn Trophy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 89 | 3rd | |
| Formula Palmer Audi Shootout | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 3rd | |
| Formula Palmer Audi | PalmerSport | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 70 | 16th |
| GP2 Asia Series | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19th | |
| GP2 Final | Addax Team | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4th |
| FIA Formula Two Championship | Motorsport Vision | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| Formula One | Force India | Test driver | ||||||
| 2007 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | CAS 1 | CAS 2 | Oulton Park | Oulton Park | Donington Park | Donington Park | Croft Circuit | Croft Circuit | Croft Circuit ! 10th ! 187 | ||
| 2008 | Donington Park | Donington Park | Donington Park | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | Oulton Park | Oulton Park | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | SIL 1 | SIL 2 !style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 3rd !style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 338 |
| 2009 | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | SIL 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | Oulton Park | Oulton Park | Oulton Park | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | SIL 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 ! 16th ! 70 | ||
| 2009 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | BRN 1 | BRN 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | DON 1 | DON 2 | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | ! 21st ! 3 | |||
| 2010 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | MAR 1 | MAR 2 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | ALG 1 | ALG 2 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRN 1 | BRN 2 | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | 2nd | 242 |
| 2011 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | Magny Cours | Magny Cours | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | SPL 1 | SPL 2 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | ! NC ! 0 |
| 2011 !nowrap | Arden International | IST FEA | IST SPR | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | MON FEA | MON SPR | VAL FEA | VAL SPR | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | NÜR FEA | NÜR SPR | HUN FEA | HUN SPR | SPA FEA | SPA SPR | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | ! 28th ! 0 | |||||||
| 2012 !nowrap | iSport International | SEP FEA | SEP SPR | BHR1 FEA | BHR1 SPR | BHR2 FEA | BHR2 SPR | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | MON FEA | MON SPR | VAL FEA | VAL SPR | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | HOC FEA | HOC SPR | HUN FEA | HUN SPR | SPA FEA | SPA SPR | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | MRN FEA | MRN SPR ! 11th ! 78 | ||
| 2013 !nowrap | Carlin | SEP FEA | SEP SPR | BHR FEA | BHR SPR | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | MON FEA | MON SPR | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | NÜR FEA | NÜR SPR | HUN FEA | HUN SPR | SPA FEA | SPA SPR | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | MRN FEA | MRN SPR | YMC FEA | YMC SPR | ! 7th ! 119 | |||
| 2014 !nowrap | DAMS | BHR FEA | BHR SPR | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | MON FEA | MON SPR | RBR FEA | RBR SPR | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | HOC FEA | HOC SPR | HUN FEA | HUN SPR | SPA FEA | SPA SPR | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | SOC FEA | SOC SPR | YMC FEA | YMC SPR | 1st | 276 | ||
| 2011 !nowrap | Arden International | YMC FEA | YMC SPR | IMO FEA | IMO SPR ! 19th ! 0 |
| 2011 !nowrap | Addax Team | YMC FEA | YMC SPR ! 4th ! 9 |
| !nowrapLotus F1 Team !nowrap | Lotus E23 Hybrid !nowrap | Mercedes PU106B Hybrid 1.6 V6 Turbocharger | AUS | MAL | CHN | BHR | ESP | MON | CAN | AUT | GBR | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | RUS | USA | MEX | BRA | ABU | ! – ! – | |
| !nowrapRenault Sport F1 Team !nowrap | Renault R.S.16 !nowrap | Renault R.E.16 1.6 V6 Turbocharger | AUS | BHR | CHN | RUS | ESP | MON | CAN | EUR | AUT | GBR | HUN | GER | BEL | ITA | SIN | MAL | JPN | USA | MEX | BRA | ABU !18th !1 |
| !nowrapRenault Sport F1 Team !nowrap | Renault R.S.17 !nowrap | Renault R.E.17 1.6 V6 Turbocharger | AUS | CHN | BHR | RUS | ESP | MON | CAN | AZE | AUT | GBR | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | MAL | JPN | USA | MEX | BRA | ABU | !17th !8 |
– Was entered as third driver, but did not run due to bad weather.
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