Palmer open to racing outside of Lotus Formula One role

Reigning GP2 champion Jolyon Palmer says his “ears are open” to any opportunities to race outside of his Formula One test and reserve role with Lotus.

Palmer made his Lotus debut at Barcelona on Friday, getting his first mileage in the team’s Mercedes-powered E23 machine, but knows his track opportunities will be limited this year.

“I’d like to race in something else, my ears are open,” said Palmer. “But my main focus is definitely this role (with Lotus), which is obviously a big chance for me to get some mileage in a Formula One car.

“At the same time, I’d love to race and if I had a very good offer – and it didn’t clash with my commitments with Lotus – then I’d love to do it.

“It could be sportscar-based, I’m flexible – I’m open to offers; I’d love to get in to something, but it’s not the be-all and end-all.”

Happy with his first day in the job

Palmer completed 77 laps on his Lotus test debut, and was pleased with what he achieved.

“Generally it was productive, I’d only done 30-odd laps in a Formula One car (for Force India last year), so I learnt a lot,” he said. “It was all positive, and everyone is really motivated here.”

The Briton now doesn’t expect to drive the car in the near future, however.

“I’m not expecting to be in the car until the season starts now,” he said. “I’ll be at every race in the reserve role, and I’ll be doing a number of FP1s, but I’m not sure exactly how many.

“I want to get in the car, and I want to impress the team so they want to put me in the car. We’ll see as the season unfolds.”