William Palmer (born 15 February 1997)[1] is a British former racing driver. He is the son of Jonathan Palmer and brother of Jolyon Palmer. He is a past winner of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.[2]

Will Palmer
Born (1997-02-15) 15 February 1997 (age 27)
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
SpouseSam White
RelativesJonathan Palmer (father)
Jolyon Palmer (brother)
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 career
Debut season2015
Current teamR-ace GP
Car number8
Starts41
Wins4
Poles1
Fastest laps2
Best finish2nd in 2017
Previous series
2018
2016-2017
2014-2016
2013-2014
2011-2013
2011-2012
GP3 Series
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
BRDC Formula 4 Championship
BRDC F4 Winter Championship
Ginetta Junior Championship
Ginetta Junior Winter Series
Championship titles
2015
2014
BRDC Formula 4 Championship
BRDC F4 Winter Championship
Awards
2015McLaren Autosport BRDC Award

He won the BRDC F4 Championship in 2015 having previously won the 2014 BRDC Formula 4 Winter Championship.[3]

Career

edit

Ginetta Juniors (2011-2013)

edit

A successful 2013 season saw Palmer finish third in the 2013 Ginetta Junior Championship.[4]

BRDC Formula 4 (2013-2015)

edit

Palmer competed in the BRDC Formula 4 Winter Championship in 2013, ahead of graduating to the category for 2014. A promising debut full season in BRDC F4 saw Palmer take two wins and finish sixth in the 2014 overall standings. He followed that up by winning the F4 Winter Championship, taking four wins from eight races. He was nominated for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award and he was named the winner at the Autosport Awards.[4]

2015 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award

edit

After his record-breaking BRDC F4 season, Palmer was nominated for the 2015 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award alongside Jack Aitken, Ben Barnicoat, Jake Hughes, Ricky Collard and Toby Sowery. After two days of assessments at Silverstone, Palmer was named the winner at the Autosport Awards in London, receiving the prize of £100,000, a McLaren F1 test, Arai Carbon helmet and BRDC membership.[5]

After the end of the 2016 season, Palmer received his McLaren F1 test for winning the 2015 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, impressing the team throughout with McLaren simulator test engineer Alice Rowlands commenting that Palmer should be "very happy" with his maiden run in a Grand Prix car. "It's not easy," she added, "he doesn't know anyone and it's a step up from anything he's done before, working with this many engineers. Looking at the data it was clearly someone driving a Formula 1 car properly - not someone that was out for a little afternoon drive around."[6]

Formula Renault 2.0 (2016-17)

edit

For 2016, Palmer graduated to race in Europe and competed in both the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup for the R-ace GP team. He scored five podium finishes over the course of the season and claimed his maiden victory in European racing as he took the chequered flag in the penultimate race of the Eurocup season at Estoril in Portugal.[7]

In December 2016, it was announced that Palmer would continue with R-ace GP for the 2017 championships.[8] He finished as runner-up to Sacha Fenestraz with wins at Silverstone, Monza and Monaco and another seven podiums.

GP3 Series

edit

In April 2018, Palmer signed with MP Motorsport for the final season of the sport.[9] He only made one round as he retired from racing in June 2018 to focus on his studies and his work.[10]

Racing record

edit

Career summary

edit
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2011 Ginetta Junior Championship Hillspeed 6 0 0 0 0 46 18th
Ginetta Junior Winter Series 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2012 Ginetta Junior Championship HHC Motorsport 18 0 0 0 0 170 12th
Ginetta Junior Winter Series 3 0 0 0 1 70 3rd
2013 Ginetta Junior Championship HHC Motorsport 20 1 4 3 10 406 3rd
BRDC Formula 4 Winter Championship 8 1 1 0 2 131 5th
2014 BRDC Formula 4 Championship HHC Motorsport 24 2 0 3 7 356 6th
BRDC Formula 4 Winter Championship 8 4 0 7 7 239 1st
2015 BRDC Formula 4 Championship HHC Motorsport 24 12 10 14 15 592 1st
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 ART Junior Team 3 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2016 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 R-ace GP 15 1 0 1 2 76 7th
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 12 0 0 0 3 126 13th
BRDC British Formula 3 Championship HHC Motorsport 3 0 1 1 1 39 25th
2017 Formula Renault Eurocup R-ace GP 23 3 1 1 10 298 2nd
Formula Renault NEC 3 0 0 0 1 0 NC†
2018 GP3 Series MP Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 0 25th

As Palmer was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete GP3 Series results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points
2018 MP Motorsport CAT
FEA

18
CAT
SPR

13
LEC
FEA
LEC
SPR
RBR
FEA
RBR
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
SOC
FEA
SOC
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
25th 0

References

edit
  1. ^ "Will Palmer - Young Drivers - British Racing Drivers' Club".
  2. ^ Mitchell, Scott (7 December 2015). "Will Palmer was sure he had lost McLaren Autosport BRDC Award".
  3. ^ "Will Palmer - Racing career profile - Driver Database".
  4. ^ a b "Will Balmer biography". Will Palmer. Retrieved 16 September 2016.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Will Palmer :: Official Website".
  6. ^ "Will Palmer :: Official Website".
  7. ^ "Will Palmer :: Official Website".
  8. ^ "Will Palmer stays with R-Ace GP Formula Renault squad for 2017". 13 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Palmer completes MP Motorsport lineup". GP3 Series. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  10. ^ Elliot Wood (28 June 2018). "Will Palmer sidelines GP3 campaign for university placement". formulascout.com. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
edit
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Matthew Graham
BRDC Formula 4 Winter Championship
champion

2014
Succeeded by
Ben Barnicoat
(Autumn Trophy)
Preceded by BRDC Formula 4 Championship
champion

2015
Succeeded by
Matheus Leist
(British F3 Championship)
Awards
Preceded by McLaren Autosport BRDC Award
2015
Succeeded by