Britain's Jolyon Palmer will start only the fourth race of his Formula One career in Sunday's Russian Grand Prix, but the rookie has already conceded the sport can be a "very lonely place".
While Palmer, who qualified 18th at the Sochi Autodrom ahead of Sunday's Russian Grand Prix, enjoyed a strong start to life in the sport following an eye-catching display at the curtain raiser in Australia, a car failure prevented him from starting the subsequent race in Bahrain.
At the ensuing Chinese Grand Prix, Palmer, the former GP2 champion, was nearly one second slower than his Renault team-mate Kevin Magnussen in qualifying. He then finished last of all the 22 drivers in a race which he latterly described as the worst of his entire racing career.
Asked if the sport can be a lonely place, Palmer replied: "Yes, very. Formula One is quite a tough world when things are not going well and it is harder when you are a rookie.
"There are plenty of people who can question me when I come last in a grand prix or get out-qualified by nine tenths (of a second) by my team-mate. For the rest of the world, people are quite quick to criticise. All the sessions are covered, and the analysis that people do now is huge.
"It is not easy but I just kept faith in myself because I was not happy with the car and we could sort it out, and finally I feel like we have."
Palmer was awarded three marks from a possible 10 at his last outing in Shanghai by popular motor racing magazine Autosport. Palmer joked: "I honestly thought they were quite generous to give me a three because it was such a terrible weekend. I was thinking it was going to be a one."
The 25-year-old added: "It is just Formula One isn't it? There are 22 people out there and if you do a bad job there is nowhere to hide. For me, I didn't feel like I was doing a terrible job, but I didn't have the car to do any better. I accept that is how it is."
Ahead of the Sochi race - the venue where Palmer clinched the GP2 championship back in 2014 - the Englishman believes he has an outside chance of a top-10 finish.
He added: "I think tomorrow we will be moving forward and we can be fighting the midfield. Last year there were a couple of safety cars, it is a one-stop race, so if you can get a break with the safety car on strategy, you can end up in a position to score points. It seems a long way from now, but I think we can move forward."
Source: PA
