JOLYON Palmer was left cursing his luck after narrowly missing out on the points with a 12th-placed finish at Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Starting at 20th on the grid, Palmer climbed eight places at the Red Bull Ring, while his teammate with the Enstone-based Renault Sport, Kevin Magnussen, climbed three places to finish 14th after starting 17th.

“We just needed that little bit of extra luck and we could have been right there within the points,” said Palmer.

“I’ve been feeling stronger and stronger over the last few races and knowing we could have done well today makes me hopeful for points at the next round at Silverstone.”

Walkinshaw’s off for Spa weekend

CHIPPING Norton’s Sean Walkinshaw Racing visit the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit this weekend as the British Formula 3 decamps to Belgium.

While Australian Thomas Maxwell and South African Eugene Denyssen will both be looking to continue their fine form, budget difficulties mean Danish teammate Jan Jonck will miss out on the trip.

It comes after Walkinshaw was in action last weekend at the Blancpain Sprint Cup.

He and teammate Ricardo Sanchez finished fourth and fifth in the two races at the Nurburgring in Germany.