Jonathan Palmer

For the American football player, see Jonathan Palmer (American football).

Jonathan Palmer

Born	7 November 1956 (1956-11-07)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1983 - 1989
Teams	Williams, RAM, Zakspeed, Tyrrell
Races	88 (83 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	14
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First race	1983 European Grand Prix
Last race	1989 Australian Grand Prix

Dr. Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956 in London) is an entrepreneur and former racing driver from England. Educated at Brighton College, he won the 1981 British Formula Three Championship and the 1983 European Formula Two Championship. He participated in 87 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on September 25, 1983. He scored a total of 14 championship points, with a career best finish of 4th. In 1987 he won the Jim Clark Cup for drivers without turbocharged engines, with team-mate Philippe Streiff his main rival. Throughout his Formula One career Palmer drove for the Williams, RAM, Zakspeed and Tyrrell teams. He also had a spell as McLaren test driver in 1990.

Palmer driving for Zakspeed at the 1985 German Grand Prix.

Before opting for a career in motor racing, Palmer qualified and worked as a doctor in London.

After retiring from driving Palmer was drafted in as a commentator by the BBC in mid-1993 to replace James Hunt who died of a heart attack shortly after the Canadian Grand Prix. When coverage moved to ITV in 1997 Palmer was replaced by Martin Brundle.

Jonathan Palmer is also Chief Executive of MotorSport Vision, which owns and operates five circuits in the UK - Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Snetterton, Cadwell Park and Bedford Autodrome. MotorSport Vision also co-ordinated and ran the now defunct Formula Palmer Audi Championship, as well as being the commercial rights holder for the British Superbike Championship and co-ordinating and operating the new FIA Formula Two Championship.

Motor magazine, 16 May 1981, featuring a story entitled 'Jonathan Palmer: future Formula 1 champion?'

Jonathan Palmer has helped develop the careers of young drivers like Justin Wilson, whom he guided into Formula One, whilst Formula Palmer Audi has helped shape the careers of, among others, triple World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx.

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos	Pts
1982	Ralt Racing Ltd.	Ralt	Honda	SIL 15	HOC Ret	THR 11	NÜR 14	MUG 5	VAL 5	PAU 6	SPA 6	HOC Ret	DON 3	MAN Ret	PER DNS	MIS	9th	10
1983	Ralt Racing Ltd.	Ralt	Honda	SIL Ret	THR 3	HOC 1	NÜR 4	VAL 2	PAU 3	JAR 3	DON 1	MIS 1	PER 1	ZOL 1	MUG 1		1st	68

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Pts
1983	TAG Williams Team	Williams FW08C	Cosworth V8	BRA	USW	FRA	SMR	MON	BEL	DET	CAN	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	EUR 13	RSA		NC	0
1984	Skoal Bandit Formula 1 Team	RAM 01	Hart Straight-4	BRA 8	RSA Ret															NC	0
		RAM 02				BEL 10	SMR 9	FRA 13	MON DNQ	CAN	DET Ret	DAL Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT 9	NED 9	ITA Ret	EUR Ret	POR Ret
1985	West Zakspeed Racing	Zakspeed 841	Zakspeed Straight-4	BRA	POR Ret	SMR DNS	MON 11	CAN	DET	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA	BEL	EUR	RSA	AUS	NC	0
1986	West Zakspeed Racing	Zakspeed 861	Zakspeed Straight-4	BRA Ret	ESP Ret	SMR Ret	MON 12	BEL 13	CAN Ret	DET 8	FRA Ret	GBR 9	GER Ret	HUN 10	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	POR 12	MEX 10	AUS 9	NC	0
1987	Data General Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell DG016	Cosworth V8	BRA 10	SMR Ret	BEL Ret	MON 5	DET 11	FRA 7	GBR 8	GER 5	HUN 7	AUT 14	ITA 14	POR 10	ESP Ret	MEX 7	JPN 8	AUS 4	11th	7†
1988	Tyrrell Racing Organisation	Tyrrell 017	Cosworth V8	BRA Ret	SMR 14	MON 5	MEX DNQ	CAN 6	DET 5	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 11	HUN Ret	BEL 12	ITA DNQ	POR Ret	ESP Ret	JPN 12	AUS Ret	14th	5
1989	Tyrrell Racing Organisation	Tyrrell 017B	Cosworth V8	BRA 7																25th	2
		Tyrrell 018			SMR 6	MON 9	MEX Ret	USA 9	CAN Ret	FRA 10	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN 13	BEL 14	ITA Ret	POR 6	ESP 10	JPN Ret	AUS DNQ

^† 1st place in the Jim Clark Cup, for naturally aspirated cars.

Personal life

His son Jolyon Palmer is also a racing driver, currently competing in the GP2 Series.

External links

• MotorSport Vision
• Brighton College Hall of Fame
• GP Encyclopedia
• Palmer Sport

Sporting positions
Preceded by Stefan Johansson	British Formula Three Champion 1981	Succeeded by Tommy Byrne
Preceded by Corrado Fabi	European Formula Two Champion 1983	Succeeded by Mike Thackwell
Awards
Preceded by John Watson	Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year 1983	Succeeded by Derek Bell
Preceded by Nigel Mansell	Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year 1987	Succeeded by Martin Brundle