Palmer suspects chassis fault after F1 struggles mirror Nasr's Sauber woes
Jolyon Palmer points to a possible chassis flaw in his Renault after back-to-back difficult weekends, drawing parallels with Felipe Nasr's recent Sauber experience.
Jolyon Palmer is questioning whether his recent lack of pace in Formula One is down to a chassis fault, after two consecutive weekends where he has failed to match his Renault teammates. The British rookie, who made a solid debut in Melbourne, has since struggled in both China and Russia, with his team unable to pinpoint a clear technical explanation.
Palmer finished last in China and continued to experience unpredictable handling at Sochi, where he was outpaced by Renault test driver Sergey Sirotkin in Friday practice. He described the main issue as sudden oversteer and an inconsistent car balance, making it difficult to build confidence behind the wheel. According to Palmer, attempts to revert to the car’s Melbourne setup have not improved the situation.
Comparisons with Nasr's Sauber chassis issue
Palmer drew a parallel with Felipe Nasr’s recent problems at Sauber. Earlier in the season, Nasr repeatedly complained about poor handling and a lack of balance, which the team ultimately traced to a possible chassis issue. Sauber provided Nasr with a new monocoque for the Russian Grand Prix, after which he reported that the car’s behaviour had returned to normal and his performance improved. Nasr told Globo that he felt back to the level shown in pre-season testing at Barcelona.
Palmer noted that, as with Nasr, his own car shows no obvious external signs of a problem. Despite this, he remains convinced that something is amiss, citing his experience with the car and the circuit. He said he does not believe he is making driving errors, and the team is now working to understand whether a hidden chassis issue could be to blame.
Renault's next steps
Renault has so far focused on setup changes and reverting to earlier configurations, but these have not restored Palmer’s confidence or pace. The team has not announced plans for a chassis swap, nor confirmed any structural fault in Palmer’s car. The situation highlights the challenge of diagnosing subtle chassis problems, which may not be visible but can have a dramatic impact on driver performance.
Palmer’s case now echoes the Sauber situation, raising questions about how teams identify and resolve such elusive faults. For Palmer, a technical resolution is needed if he is to recapture the form he showed at the start of the season. For more on Nasr’s career developments, seeNasr linked to Williams F1 seat with $18m sponsorship offer.
