Palmer to join Lotus team in 2016
Chopper shuttle available to COTA for Sunday’s events.
Lotus officials announced Friday that Jolyon Palmer, a second-generation Formula One driver, will be joining their team next season.
He’ll drive in the second spot, filling a vacancy created when Romain Grosjean announced he was leaving for the new American-based Haas team.
Palmer’s father, Jonathan, drove for Williams, RAM, Zakspeed and Tyrrell from 1983-89.
Palmer was the GP2 champion in 2014 and has been used as a practice driver by the Lotus team, which is expected to be purchased by Renault.
Book a helicopter: Bigwigs have used helicopters to avoid traffic snarls at Circuit of the Americas. Now, the normal folks can snag a ride, too. Weather permitting, Uber and Epic Helicopters are offering rides from the airport to COTA for Sunday’s race. Cost is $400. No word on whether champagne is included.
Porsche connections: Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg has a close relationship with the Porsche Super Cup, which is a support race for F1 this weekend. Hulkenberg was part of the Porsche team that won the famed Le Mans 24 Hours race this summer. It was part of a two-race contract Hulkenberg had with Porsche during the 2015 F1 season.
Hulkenberg’s co-drivers in the marathon event, Earl Bamaber and Nick Tandy, are Porsche Super Cup series grads.
In the series, all drivers pilot identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars based on the iconic Porsche 911.
Another penalty: While 10-spot penalties to Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are going to have a larger impact on the race, Manor Marussia driver Will Stevens was issued a penalty for using a fifth engine, fifth turbo charger and fifth MGU-H — the engine cooling unit.
Stevens will be docked 20 spots on the grid, locking him into a last-place start Sunday for the U.S. Grand Prix. He likely would have been in that position either way. At Friday’s first practice session, Stevens posted the slowest time.
Celebrity sighting: Actor James Marsden was seen walking the paddock Friday before the second practice, which was rained out. The 42-yearold actor is known for playing Cyclops in the “X-Men” movies.