JOLYON Palmer was left scratching his head at the Enstone-based Renault team’s poor showing at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The British driver finished 15th, a place ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg, as he was unable to build on his first points finish of 2017 two weeks previously.

Palmer, who started 12th on the grid, spun his car twice in the race.

He said: “The start of the race wasn’t great, I was then following Nico for a good part and there were a few good overtakes.

“After that I lost the car and I don’t really know why, it came as a surprise and we pretty much lost the race from there.”

Hulkenberg was forced to pit a second time due to safety issues.

He said: “It was a very a disappointing Sunday.

“It began with a start that wasn’t fantastic, we lost a few positions in turn one but from then on we were on the back foot for the rest of the race.”

Managing director Cyril Abiteboul is looking for a response at Suzuka this weekend.

He said: “It’s the last time we want to see this and we will take the necessary measures to better understand our lack of performance this weekend.”