GP2 champion has already made three P1 appearances this year
Thursday 11 June 2015 13:32, UK
Jolyon Palmer is to be given an extended opportunity to impress at Lotus with the team confirming the GP2 champion will drive in the next five P1 sessions.
In addition to running in all the remaining European Friday morning practice sessions this term, Palmer will also drive the Lotus E23 in the upcoming post-Austrian GP test.
"I'm really pleased to be driving in P1 for the rest of the European season,” said Palmer. “I've been happy with my performances so far and the car is improving all the time so, after watching on at the last two events, it will be great to be driving again."
Palmer, a recent guest on the F1 Midweek Report, has already appeared in three P1 sessions this season, culminating in an impressive performance in Spain when he out-paced Lotus race driver Pastor Maldonado by over three tenths of a second.
The young Englishman also set the pace on the second and final day of the Barcelona test which followed the Spanish GP last month.
But while the announcement that Palmer will appear in at least five more P1 sessions this year is a boost for his hopes of being promoted to a full race seat in 2015, the news will be a blow to Romain Grosjean. It is understood that Maldonado’s 'pay deal' with Lotus includes a guarantee that will participate in every session, thereby ensuring Frenchman Grosjean will be the driver to make way for Palmer.
