Jonathan
Palmer

Jonathan Palmer was born on 7 November 1956 in Lewisham, London. He was educated at Brighton College and trained as a doctor at Guy's Hospital, racing an Austin-Healey Sprite and a Marcos in club events while he studied. He worked as a doctor at hospitals in Cuckfield and Brighton, then chose racing as a profession after Formula Ford from 1978 to 1980. He won the British Formula 3 Championship in 1981 and had a Williams test in 1982. In 1983 he became European Formula Two champion and received the British Racing Drivers' Club Gold Star.

Palmer was a Williams test driver in 1982 and 1983. He made his Formula One debut on 25 September 1983 in the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, finishing 13th. In 1984 he drove for RAM, starting 14 of his 15 entries. At Zakspeed in 1985 he started seven races and was classified only in Detroit, where he came 11th. In 1986 he started all 16 rounds and took eighth place in Detroit. At his home race at Brands Hatch that year, he used his medical training to help Jacques Laffite after Laffite's crash on the opening lap.

Palmer joined Tyrrell a week before the 1987 season opener in Brazil. The naturally aspirated car could not match the turbocharged cars for speed but proved reliable. He scored points in three races, took his best result of fourth in Australia and finished 11th in the championship. He also won the Jim Clark Trophy, which was for drivers of naturally aspirated cars. He stayed with Tyrrell in 1988 and 1989, with two fifth places and three sixth places as his best results. In total he started 83 grands prix and scored 14 championship points.

At the end of 1989 he became McLaren's test driver and helped develop the McLaren F1 road car, driving one to a speed record of 231 mph. In sports car racing he drove a Group C Porsche from 1983 to 1990, winning the 1984 1000 km of Brands Hatch with Jan Lammers and finishing second at the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans with James Weaver and Richard Lloyd. In 1991 he finished seventh in the British Touring Car Championship, and he later commentated on Formula One for the BBC. His son Jolyon also raced in Formula One in 2016 and 2017.

Source: Wikipedia, “Jonathan Palmer”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.