Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956) is a British former racing driver, physician, broadcaster and motorsport executive. He competed in Formula One from 1983 to 1989 before helping develop the McLaren F1 road car and building MotorSport Vision into one of Europe’s largest circuit-operating businesses.
Driver Bio
| Nationality | British |
| Birthplace | Lewisham, England |
| Born | 7 November 1956 |
| First Grand Prix | 1983 European Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 1989 Australian Grand Prix |
| Years Active | 1983–1989 |
| Current/Last Team | Tyrrell |
Across 83 Formula One starts for Williams, RAM, Zakspeed and Tyrrell, Palmer scored 14 championship points. His other major achievements included the 1983 European Formula Two title, victory in the 1984 Brands Hatch 1000 Kilometres and second place at the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Early life and career
Palmer was born in Lewisham, London, and educated at Brighton College.
Before committing himself to motorsport, he trained as a doctor at Guy’s Hospital in London and worked as a junior physician at hospitals in Cuckfield and Brighton.
Racing initially developed alongside his medical studies. Palmer competed in club events with an Austin-Healey Sprite and a Marcos before moving into Formula Ford, where he raced from 1978 through 1980.
His results eventually persuaded him to exchange medicine for professional motorsport. The decision paid off quickly: Palmer won the 1981 British Formula Three Championship and earned a Formula One test with Williams in 1982.
The following year, he captured the European Formula Two Championship and received the British Racing Drivers’ Club Gold Star.
Formula One
Williams and RAM
Palmer combined his Formula Two campaign with testing duties for Williams during 1982 and 1983.
His reward came at Brands Hatch on 25 September 1983. Frank Williams and Patrick Head offered him a drive in the European Grand Prix as a gesture of thanks for his development work.
Palmer finished 13th from a field of 26 starters, completing his Formula One debut on home soil.
For 1984, he joined the Skoal Bandit RAM March team. Palmer reached the finish six times, recording one eighth place, three ninths, a tenth and a 13th.
Zakspeed
Palmer moved to the new Zakspeed Formula One project in 1985. The ambitious German team’s turbocharged car was fast enough to reach the grid but rarely durable enough to finish.
He started eight Grands Prix that season and retired from seven. His only finish came in Detroit, where he placed 11th.
The 1986 campaign produced 16 starts, eight retirements and another best result in Detroit, this time eighth.
Palmer’s medical training became unexpectedly valuable at the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. Ligier driver Jacques Laffite suffered serious leg injuries in a first-lap accident, and Palmer used his qualifications as a general practitioner to assist with the Frenchman’s extraction from the wreckage.
The crash ended Laffite’s Formula One career.
Tyrrell and the Jim Clark Trophy
Ahead of the 1987 season, Palmer spoke with McLaren boss Ron Dennis about becoming teammate to two-time world champion Alain Prost. The seat ultimately went to Stefan Johansson.
Only a week before the opening race in Brazil, Palmer secured an alternative drive with Tyrrell.
The team’s Cosworth-powered car lacked the outright speed of its turbocharged rivals but compensated with reliability and agility, particularly on tighter circuits. Palmer scored points on three occasions and achieved his career-best result with fourth place at the Australian Grand Prix.
That season also featured the Jim Clark Trophy, a championship created specifically for drivers using normally aspirated engines. Palmer won it, becoming its only champion—the award disappeared after turbo and non-turbo cars were no longer separated in the same way.
He remained with Tyrrell for 1988 and 1989. Across those two seasons, his best results were two fifth places and three sixths.
At the end of 1989, Palmer left Grand Prix racing and returned to development work as McLaren’s test driver.
Sports cars
Between 1983 and 1990, Palmer competed in the World Sportscar Championship with Group C Porsche machinery.
His first major victory came at the 1984 Brands Hatch 1000 Kilometres. Sharing the Porsche with Jan Lammers, Palmer won at the circuit where he had made his Formula One debut less than a year earlier.
He entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times. His strongest result came in 1985, when he shared a Porsche with James Weaver and Richard Lloyd and finished second overall.
Other racing
Palmer won the Toyota Rallysprint at Brands Hatch in 1987.
He later entered the 1991 British Touring Car Championship with a Prodrive BMW and finished seventh in the standings.
Palmer also demonstrated his pace at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, setting the fastest shootout time in both 1995 and 1996.
Broadcasting career
Palmer joined the BBC’s Formula One team as a pit-lane reporter in 1991.
Following the death of James Hunt from a heart attack after the 1993 Canadian Grand Prix, Palmer moved into the commentary box alongside Murray Walker.
The pairing remained together until the BBC lost its Formula One broadcasting rights at the end of 1996. In 1997, Palmer joined CBC for its annual coverage of the Canadian Grand Prix.
His analytical style drew on an unusual combination of experience: former Grand Prix driver, development specialist, doctor and team insider.
McLaren F1 development
Palmer’s work with McLaren extended beyond its Formula One programme. He became closely involved in developing the McLaren F1 road car, one of the most technically ambitious production cars of its era.
At Italy’s Nardò test circuit, Palmer drove the car to 231 mph, establishing a new production-car speed record.
Business career
PalmerSport and Bedford Autodrome
Palmer founded PalmerSport in 1991 to provide corporate motorsport and driving events.
The business initially operated from Bruntingthorpe airfield in Leicestershire. Palmer later secured the lease on the site that became Bedford Autodrome and developed it specifically around customer driving rather than spectator racing.
The venue opened in 1999 with four separate circuits offering a combined six miles of track. It became PalmerSport’s permanent home while also hosting track days.
In 2009, MotorSport Vision purchased the freehold of approximately 800 acres at Bedford. Bedford Aerodrome opened on the same site as a Civil Aviation Authority-licensed airfield in 2010.
Formula Palmer Audi
Palmer created the Formula Palmer Audi Championship in 1998 as a more affordable alternative to Formula Three.
The inaugural champion, Justin Wilson, later won the Formula 3000 title. Palmer subsequently managed Wilson’s career and devised an innovative investment scheme that allowed supporters to purchase shares in the driver’s future earnings.
The funding helped Wilson secure a Formula One opportunity with Minardi.
Creating MotorSport Vision
In 2004, Palmer joined John Britten and Sir Peter Ogden to purchase Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Snetterton and Cadwell Park from Octagon. The circuits were placed under the newly formed MotorSport Vision organisation.
With Palmer as chief executive and majority shareholder, MSV introduced extensive upgrades across the venues, improving facilities for competitors and spectators.
Snetterton underwent the most dramatic transformation. A near-complete redesign in 2011 added several corners, created three separate circuit configurations and introduced substantial new viewing areas.
MSV also operated Formula Palmer Audi, acquired the commercial rights to the British Superbike Championship and ran the FIA Formula Two Championship from 2009 through 2012.
The company later added GB3, GB4 and numerous club-level series organised through the MSVR division.
Expansion
MSV purchased the freehold of a substantial former military airbase near Laon in northeastern France in 2015, with plans to develop the site into a major international motorsport complex.
In 2017, the company acquired Donington Park. A multimillion-pound improvement programme followed, including paddock and internal-road resurfacing, a new circuit office, upgraded hospitality facilities and a grandstand overlooking the track.
MSV’s international expansion continued in 2022 when it won the bidding process for Circuito de Navarra in northern Spain.
The first phase of improvements included a comprehensive refurbishment of race control, with new display screens and upgraded CCTV. The race-control tower, main pit buildings and garage doors were also redecorated, improving the presentation of the FIA Grade 1T and Grade 2 venue.
MSV now operates six British motorsport circuits, PalmerSport at Bedford Autodrome and a portfolio of motorcycle and car-racing championships.
Personal life
Palmer has two sons who pursued professional racing careers.
Jolyon Palmer won the 2014 GP2 Series championship and raced for Renault in Formula One during 2016 and 2017. He later became a Formula One commentator and columnist for BBC Sport.
His younger son, Will, won the BRDC Formula Four Championship and the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in 2015. He finished second in the 2017 Formula Renault Eurocup.
Palmer also has two daughters. Emily became an accountant, while Alice pursued a professional career in equestrian showjumping.
Grand Prix Stats
| Race Entries | 88 |
| Race Starts | 83 |
| Did Not Start | 1 |
| Best Race Start | 9 |
| Best Race Finish | 4 |
| Retirements | 42 |
| First-Lap Retirements | 2 |
| Not Classified | 0 |
| Disqualified | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 4 |
Qualifying
| Qualifying Sessions | 88 |
| Reached Q3 | 0 |
| Q2 Eliminations | 0 |
| Q1 Eliminations | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 4 |
Fastest Laps
| Fastest Laps | 1 |
| First Fastest Lap | 1989 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Last Fastest Lap | 1989 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Win + Fastest Lap | 0 |
| Most Consecutive Fastest Laps | 0 |
| Most Fastest Laps in a Season | 1 |
| Seasons with Fastest Laps | 1 |
Points
| Points Scored | 14 |
| Points Finishes | 8 |
| Most Points in a Single Season | 7 (1987) |
| Seasons with Points | 3 |
Stats by Season
| Year | Constructor | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Williams | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 13 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1984 | RAM | 15 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 21 | 8 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1985 | Zakspeed | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 19 | 11 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1986 | Zakspeed | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1987 | Tyrrell | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 11th |
| 1988 | Tyrrell | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 14th |
| 1989 | Tyrrell | 16 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 25th |
Teammates & Qualifying Head-to-Head
| Teammate | Years | Races | Qualifying H2H |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keke Rosberg | 1983 | 1 | 0-1 |
| Jacques Laffite | 1983 | 1 | 1-0 |
| Philippe Alliot | 1984 | 15 | 9-6 |
| Huub Rothengatter | 1986 | 14 | 14-0 |
| Philippe Streiff | 1987 | 16 | 8-8 |
| Julian Bailey | 1988 | 16 | 14-2 |
| Michele Alboreto | 1989 | 6 | 3-3 |
| Jean Alesi | 1989 | 8 | 2-6 |
| Johnny Herbert | 1989 | 2 | 1-1 |
