Who is he?
Jolyon Carlyle Palmer is an Englishman, the son of Dr. Jonathan Palmer, but we don't care about him because he did too well in a Tyrrell so let's stick with his prodigious progeny.
Like Jonathan, Jolyon has a university education. Also like Jonathan, Jolyon wanted to do racing instead of doing something with his degree. He had the ordinary British junior ladder career: T Cars, then Formula Palmer Audi (the name is no coincidence, his dad practically owns British motorsport, not that that would affect Jolyon's career progression in any way). After that he moved up to Formula 2, which was like GP2 only it wasn't. Formula 2 was also Jonathan Palmer's project, but I'd like to think that Jolyon would've gone there anyway even if his dad had nothing to do with it, especially with the long list of names that have since gone on from it to an F1 race drive, like Jolyon Palmer for example.
Jolyon proudly flying what sort of maybe looks like the union jack on his car in Formula 2
After two seasons in F2 - including one as series runner-up - Jolyon went across to GP2, which was like F2 only it wasn't... yet. Here, our hero spent four seasons in the category, stretching out a longer career at this level than some of F1's most successful drivers, like Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, who only lasted a season each in GP2. Other talented four season-ers include Pastor Maldonado and Marcus Ericsson (Max Chilton only did three, but three is a magic number, so that means nothing). Sadly, he was forced to leave at the end of 2014 upon winning the title by the biggest margin in GP2 history. It may, for entertainment's sake, have been for the best, as 2014 runner-up Stoffel Vandoorne smashed Jolyon's record the next year, which can only make one wonder just how dominant JP could have been had the rules allowed him to stay and defend his title.
Jolyon in a GP2 test for DAMS ahead of his crushing 2014 campaign. Just look at that car control
Just like other recent GP2 greats like Davide Valsecchi and Fabio Leimer, Jolyon was forced to wait for his F1 call, spending 2015 as Lotus' "test and reserve" driver, but then, on October 23, he was announced as part of Lotus' Renault's driving lineup for the 2016 Formula One™ season. He was joined by the highly rated Kevin Magnussen, but Jolyon was not to be underestimated. Round one in Australia saw him out-qualify and out-race the Dane and he finished just outside the points in 11th. Only two races later, Jolyon won his first Reject of the Race award for a phenomenal 22nd place drive in China, joining an exclusive club of drivers that have finished in the same position, including Senna, Vettel, Ricciardo and Michael Schumacher. Unlike his teammate, Jolyon has been unlucky when it comes to points finishes, problems ranging from the hydraulic system to a water leak to aquaplaning (there's a pattern emerging here), but he would finally break his duck with a superb 10th place in Malaysia, a crucial result in moving Renault from a tally of 7 points to 8 points in the constructors' championship, without which they would have been closer to Sauber and Manor behind them in the table.
Jolyon leads the humbled 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg on his way to a historic 10th place at Sepang
Unable to cope with the pressure, Kevin Magnussen left Renault, which put Jolyon firmly in the position of team leader with Nico Hulkenberg joining as his number 2. His 2017 season so far has been rather understated, with Hulkenberg grabbing some points finishes, but there have been some great performances from Jolyon nonetheless, such as his Q3 appearance in Bahrain and, if one were to apply Adrian Sutil's standards, he had the best drives of his career with 13th places in Bahrain and China. Although his 2017 campaign is pointless so far, we can expect this to change for the better as the Renault develops. Soon he'll be sweeping those seventh places.
Video highlights
Battling fellow GP2 great Felipe Nasr at the Hungaroring
If Jolyon can't keep the car on the track, why did you think running the race was a good idea? Monaco was just too wet for F1 cars that day
He just oozes charisma in this interview with Sky Sports
Jolyon's elated reaction to finishing 10th in Malaysia
Absolutely nailing "Grill the Grid"
(Tony Jardine, 1988)
