Jolyon Carlyle Palmer

Palmer was educated at Dorset House School, after which he attended Cranleigh School and the University of Nottingham, from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Management Studies in 2012. His younger brother, Will, won the 2015 British BRDC Formula 4 Championship and the 2015 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

Having spent 2004 racing in MiniMax karts, Palmer moved to cars in 2005 in the T Cars championship's Autumn Trophy, a racing series for drivers between the ages of 14 and 17. He finished fifth with 92 points, 46 behind championship winner Adrian Quaife-Hobbs. In 2006 he moved to the main championship, earning one pole position and four podiums, finishing fifth with 101 points, 69 behind champion Luciano Bacheta, and also won four of six races in a second Autumn Trophy. He took part in two 2007 season races, winning both, before concentrating on Formula Palmer Audi.

In 2007, Palmer moved to the series his father Jonathan created nine years before. He finished 12th on debut at Silverstone and took two wins (at Brands Hatch and Oulton Park) and two pole positions at Brands, finishing tenth in the championship. He missed the final two rounds due to an abdominal injury suffered in a quad bike accident at his home in West Sussex, in which he nearly died after losing a kidney, puncturing a lung, suffering liver damage, and losing a lot of blood.

In 2008, Palmer was a championship challenger until the final few races, securing one win at the overseas race at Spa and 11 podiums along with three pole positions, finishing just 22 points behind Jason Moore in third place.

In 2009, Palmer moved to the FIA Formula Two Championship with a best result of sixth at Imola. He returned in 2010, winning the opening race at Silverstone — the first FIA Formula Two win by a British driver since his father won at Mugello in 1983. He finished second overall behind fellow Briton Dean Stoneman.

Palmer made his GP2 Series main season debut with Arden International alongside Josef Král, scoring top-ten finishes at Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, and Valencia. A move to the Barwa Addax team for the non-championship GP2 Finals produced third and fourth places at Abu Dhabi.

Palmer switched to iSport International alongside Marcus Ericsson. Despite persistent electrical problems early in the year, he scored his maiden GP2 victory in the sprint race at Monaco. He added a podium at Silverstone and another at Monza, finishing 11th overall.

Driving for Carlin, partnering Brazilian 2011 British F3 Champion Felipe Nasr, Palmer scored his first win of the year in the Feature Race at the Hungaroring and claimed pole, fastest lap, and the Feature Race win in Singapore, finishing 13 seconds ahead of Nasr. He qualified in the top three at each of the final three events and finished seventh in the points.

Palmer switched to DAMS and topped the opening day of pre-season testing at Abu Dhabi. He qualified on pole for the first race in Bahrain and won the Sprint Race the following day to lead the championship, a lead he held for the rest of the year. He added wins in the Feature Race at Monaco, a Sprint Race win at Monza despite starting from the back after his car was found to have less than the mandatory one litre of fuel remaining after qualifying, and clinched the championship at the Sochi circuit in Russia with three races to spare, achieving an all-time points record in the series.

Regarding his championship, Palmer said: "It feels amazing to be champion! It wasn't going to be easy to win the championship this weekend, especially today after missing out on pole yesterday. I can't thank the team enough, they've done an incredible job all year."

On 19 November 2014, it was announced that Palmer would drive for the Sahara Force India F1 team at the Abu Dhabi post-season test on 25 November.

Palmer test drove a Force India car at the Abu Dhabi end-of-season test on 25 November 2014 at the Yas Marina Circuit.

On 20 January 2015, Palmer signed as test and reserve driver for the Lotus F1 Team for 2015, with Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean as the race drivers. He made his debut in the team's E23 Hybrid on day two of pre-season testing in Barcelona, completing 77 laps. Lotus F1 Team Trackside Operations Director Alan Permane commented: "Today was about data accumulation and Jolyon did a great job in his first time in the car, especially with the particularly cold conditions to start the session in the morning."

Palmer made his Formula One Grand Prix weekend debut in Free Practice One at the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, finishing 15th. He drove FP1 sessions at Bahrain, Spain, Austria, Britain, Hungary, Belgium, and Abu Dhabi, and on 11 June 2015 it was announced he would drive FP1 for the rest of the European season, a total of five Grands Prix.

On 23 October 2015, Palmer confirmed his promotion to a full-time race seat with Renault Sport F1 Team for 2016, joining former McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen as Renault returned to Formula One having bought the Lotus F1 Team over the winter. At his debut at the Australian Grand Prix, Palmer outqualified Magnussen to fourteenth and finished eleventh.

Palmer scored his first World Championship point at the Malaysian Grand Prix, finishing tenth, 14 seconds behind Jenson Button's McLaren and three seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz in a Toro Rosso. On 9 November 2016, Renault announced that Palmer had extended his deal for 2017.

For 2017, Magnussen departed for the newly created Haas F1 Team and Nico Hülkenberg stepped in from Force India. Renault unveiled its R.S.17 on 22 January in London with a yellow and black livery carrying Palmer's race number 30. Palmer's career-best finish of sixth came at the Singapore Grand Prix, the day after he learned he would lose his seat for 2018 — he first discovered this when his brother sent him an Autosport article during the Singapore race weekend, and had to force a conversation with Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul to confirm it. Palmer stated seven years later that he "didn't know" the reasoning for Renault's sudden move.

On 7 October 2017, Renault announced that Palmer would leave the team after the Japanese Grand Prix, to be replaced from the United States Grand Prix onwards by Carlos Sainz Jr from Toro Rosso.

On 22 February 2018, Palmer joined BBC Radio 5's Formula One staff alongside Jack Nicholls and Jennie Gow. He became a regular columnist on the BBC Sport website and a Special Contributor to formula1.com, analysing racing incidents using all available camera angles. He appeared as a guest presenter alongside Will Buxton on F1 Live, Liberty Media's post-race paddock show. He was the regular co-commentator for the GP2 Series on Sky Sports F1 in 2015. In 2023, Palmer started working with F1 TV, BBC Sport, and Channel 4 as a colour commentator, hosting Jolyon Palmer's Analysis on F1 TV. As of 2025, he continues as a commentator on F1 TV's pre-race and post-race show alongside Laura Winter and Lawrence Baretto.

Following his GP2 championship, Palmer was invited to the 2014 Race of Champions at the Bushy Park circuit in Barbados. He competed for Team Young Stars with DTM race-winner Pascal Wehrlein. In the Nations Cup event, Palmer lost to Robby Gordon and nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen but defeated European F3 Champion Esteban Ocon. In the individual event, Palmer lost to Kristensen, Wehrlein, and Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay.

At the 2015 Race of Champions at the Olympic Stadium in London, Palmer again partnered Wehrlein. The duo were beaten in the quarter finals by Andy Priaulx and Jason Plato.

On 4 December 2014, Palmer was announced as the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers Driver of the Year Award in London, the trophy awarded annually by a panel of leading motorsport journalists. Previous winners include Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, and Michael Schumacher. Palmer was also nominated for the Autosport Awards British Competition Driver of the Year in 2014, losing out to Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton. He collected the British Racing Drivers' Club Fairfield Trophy in 2014, awarded to a BRDC member for outstanding performance throughout the year.

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