A beaming Jolyon Palmer says “it feels incredible” to be crowned GP2 Champion
Briton clinches title with three races remaining after victory in Russia
By William Esler
Last Updated: 11/10/14 3:59pm
A beaming Jolyon Palmer says “it feels incredible” to be crowned GP2 Champion following his victory in Russia.
The 23-year-old clinched the title with three races remaining after a stunning drive in an action-packed Feature Race in Sochi.
The Briton has been the man to beat all season following five successive podiums at the start of the year and was delighted to see four years of hard work in the series pay off.
“It feels amazing. It was not going to be easy to do it this weekend, especially not today after missing out on pole yesterday,” Palmer said on the podium aft the race.
Previous GP2 Champions
2005 – Nico Rosberg
2006 – Lewis Hamilton
2007 – Timo Glock
2008 – Giorgio Pantano
2009 – Nico Hulkenberg
2010 – Pastor Maldonado
2011 – Romain Grosjean
2012 – Davide Valsecchi
2013 – Fabio Leimer
“I cannot thank the team enough, they have done an incredible job all year, fighting pretty much for every Feature Race win, every pole and almost no mistakes. It feels amazing to be Champion.
“It feels incredible, it’s been four years of hard work for me in GP2 and it is an amazing end to it. Obviously now the pressure is off and we still have another round tomorrow and we can just go out there and enjoy it.”
Palmer adds his name to a list of previous winners that includes Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, both of whom are fighting for the 2014 F1 World Championship.
“It is incredible,” he added. “You look through the list of champions and they are all incredible drivers so to be on that list is something that cannot be taken away from me. It is an incredible feeling.”
Sunday's GP2 Sprint Race is live on Sky Sports F1 from 9am
