Palmer upbeat about Renault F1 progress, despite missing Bahrain GP

Palmer's RS16 suffered a hydraulic failure on the formation lap, resulting in the loss of brake-by-wire and power steering, forcing him back to the garage for an immediate retirement.

With team-mate Kevin Magnussen finishing Sunday's race 11th, Renault has failed to score a point in the opening two races on its return to F1 as a works team.

"Over the weekend there were a lot of teething problems," said Palmer, speaking to Autosport.

"Nothing really came together too well, and then obviously the race was non-existent.

"Everything was OK and under control, but at the end of the warm-up lap the car suffered a hydraulic failure.

"I initially lost all brake-by-wire, and then the power steering, then everything else.

"It's pretty clear as soon as the brake-by-wire goes you know something is up, and it's usually hydraulics, which is pretty terminal."

Despite Palmer also qualifying a lowly 19th, he believes there are positives, and he is convinced the team is "getting stronger".

Time is certainly required for Renault to bed itself back into F1 following its takeover of Lotus less than four months ago

"In terms of positives the race pace was again better than the qualifying pace, so we can look forward to the next race in China and keep aiming to get into the points," added Palmer.

"Even though we are qualifying further down it is clear the pace is there and stuff is happening in the races to make up the places.

"So we just need to focus on qualifying a little in China and be racing towards points.

"Overall, the team is still new and we have a different power unit, so we are still learning things the whole time.

"Beyond that I'm confident the rest of the season will see us on an upward curve.

"We knew these early races we would not look super strong, but I'm sure there are going to be good chances to move forward from here."