Palmer heads to Sochi with title in his sight

Jolyon Palmer heads to the brand new Sochi Autodrom circuit in Russia this weekend with the GP2 title in his sights.

The Southwater driver can be crowned the first British champion of the F1-supporting GP2 Series since Lewis Hamilton, with a significant points haul over Felipe Nasr over the two days.

Palmer has set a GP2 record by scoring points in every race so far this year, with three wins and seven other top-three placings.

He holds a 41-point lead with four races remaining, meaning Palmer needs to score eight more points than Nasr to be crowned champion this weekend.

Palmer remained coy on the title and said: “I’m looking forward to my first trip to Russia and driving a new track in Sochi.

“The track will be new for everyone so getting up to speed will be important in the free practice session.

“At the moment I don’t know what to expect so I’m looking forward to getting out there to find out.”

Palmer’s most-recent win came last time out at Monza in Italy, where after being relegated to the back of the grid after a post-qualifying technicality, he fought back to take eighth place in race one, giving him pole for race two, which he dominated.