Will Palmer
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| Born | (1997-02-15) 15 February 1997 (age 27) |
| Nationality |  British |
| Spouse | Sam White |
| Relatives | Jonathan Palmer (father) Jolyon Palmer (brother) |
| Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 career | |
| Debut season | 2015 |
| Current team | R-ace GP |
| Car number | 8 |
| Starts | 41 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Poles | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Best finish | 2nd 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 | |
| 2015 | McLaren Autosport BRDC Award |
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]
He won the BRDC F4 Championship in 2015 having previously won the 2014 BRDC Formula 4 Winter Championship.[3]
A successful 2013 season saw Palmer finish third in the 2013 Ginetta Junior Championship.[4]
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]
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]
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.
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]
| 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.
(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 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Matthew Graham |
BRDC Formula 4 Winter Championship champion 2014 |
Succeeded by
Ben Barnicoat |
| Preceded by | BRDC Formula 4 Championship champion 2015 |
Succeeded by
Matheus Leist |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | McLaren Autosport BRDC Award 2015 |
Succeeded by |
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| Circuits |
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| MSVR series |
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| Defunct MSVR series |
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| Other |
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Winners of the Chris Bristow Trophy for the Autosport BRDC Award
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