Montreal, Quebec – Renault Sport Formula One Team driver Jolyon Palmer looks to a cool city for a strong result ahead of the F1 Canadian Grand Prix.

Q1: What are your thoughts heading to Montréal?

Palmer: I was there last year, and I realized what a really cool city it is. It's also one which genuinely embraces Formula 1 coming to town so I can't wait to return. The track itself looks great with good overtaking opportunities. There has been good racing there in the past, so it's exciting to be headed for my first race there.

I will get the B spec power unit for the first time. It looked like it made a good difference in Monaco, and Canada is a more power-hungry circuit, so if it was a positive step in Monaco it should certainly help our cause in Montréal.

The new engine mapping certainly looks to have been beneficial, and you need good traction in and out of the lower speed corners in Canada. It's got more power too, so everything is good in that regard!

We should be a good chunk more competitive. We'll do everything we can to maximize the car around the track, and we'll be pushing all the way as usual.

Q2: What went wrong for you in the Monaco Grand Prix?

Palmer: We went over the data and it looks like it was the lower grip as I crossed the white lines of the zebra crossing, which meant my wheels spun as I pushed to accelerate. The car was pitched sideways and I collected the barriers. It was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. I had a bit of bruising on my feet so it was just my ego and the car that had to suffer.

I have been in Enstone since Monaco – to get some time in the Sim – but I did also offer to get the spanners out to help build the new chassis. I'm very grateful for all the hard work that goes in at the track and back in Enstone, and Viry and I did more than my fair share of damage to the car in Monaco.

Away from the track, Monaco is such a big week and you really feel it afterwards. On Monday night I slept a straight 14 hours to recover; I was exhausted. It's a really cool weekend, but it's just so busy. You start a day early then there's no track running on Friday but all kinds of exciting media initiatives including showcasing the R.S.16 Clio which was cool.

Renault Sport Formula One Team Chassis Technical Director Nick Chester explains the challenge of Montréal.

Q1: What can we expect in Montréal?

Chester: Canada is another challenging track. It has a street course feel and it's another place where we see a lot of track evolution, as it's not used for many race activities other than the Grand Prix. The circuit surface is low grip and it can be difficult to get the tires into their working range there. Montréal has also presented us with quite a mix of weather conditions over the years, so there is plenty to keep us on our toes.

Q2: How much benefit does the B specification power unit bring?

Chester: It's a good step forward, and we have it in both cars in Montréal. In Monaco we were able to benefit primarily from the improved drivability, whereas Montréal is more a power track thanks to its straights following slow corners. This means we should really see the power unit stretch its legs.

Q3: What's needed from the car in Montréal?

Chester: It's mainly about braking and traction. There's a lot of heavy braking, so you need to be on top of cooling for the brakes to ensure they don't overheat and need a setup, which has good stability under braking to give the driver confidence. There are some reasonable curbs at the chicanes, so ride over those is also important. You also need strong traction out of the slow corners and good grunt to propel the car down the straights.

Q4: How much damage was sustained on both cars in Monaco?

Chester: Kevin's incidents mainly damaged bolt-on parts, whereas Jolyon's incident means we will use a new chassis – R.S.16-04 – for Montréal. The car hit the barriers quite hard at an oblique angle which damaged the front of the chassis, and since we have a new chassis available it makes sense to introduce it. Fortunately, 04 was pretty far along on its build so we only needed to complete fuel cell installation and wiring for it to be ready for Canada.

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