JOLYON Palmer said he enjoyed the opportunity to test Renault’s first Formula 1 car in over six years in Barcelona despite teething problems with its software.

The French manufacturer completed its takeover of Enstone-based Lotus in December.

And Palmer only completed 37 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona, with his fastest time of 1min 29.356secs leaving him 11th fastest overall.

Despite the software issues, he said: “It was great to take to the track for the first time in the car I will race this season.”