RENAULT driver Jolyon Palmer could not hide his delight at finishing just outside the points on his Formula 1 debut.

The 25-year-old came 11th in the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, a place ahead of teammate Kevin Magnusson.

It marked a positive weekend for Renault, who took over from Enstone-based Lotus last year, in their first competitive race since 2009.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg took victory from teammate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who led early on.

But the deployment of a safety car on lap 17, after an accident between Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez, saw Rosberg change strategy and take control.

Palmer, who has not raced competitively since GP2 in 2014, qualified 13th and was pleased with his start to the season.

He said: “I think the team has done an incredible job to qualify in Q2 and then finishing the race in 11th and 12th.

“It’s the maximum we could expect to achieve.

“It’s a good start, we were so close to scoring points, and we can move forward from here.”

He added: “I absolutely loved being wheel to wheel again after a year out of racing.

“It was great to be back in the fray and it all went pretty smoothly for me. Happy days.”

Magnusson suffered a puncture during the first lap, but fought back to finish strongly.

He said: “We have a really good car – the pace is strong, as is the baseline set-up.

“It’s something we can continue to work from and evolve to gain more performance.”