Palmer hails Formula 2's first event

"I'm really pleased," Palmer told AUTOSPORT.

"It looks good, it's well presented, the team has done a great job.

"For a new championship, to look at how well it has run for a first event, I think anyone would have to say that it's pretty impressive."

Palmer admitted he was relieved that the championship got underway in a successful manner following months of hard work to get it ready in time.

"It has been a tense week, of course, and there is a sense of relief," he added. "It was terrific to see Max Mosley and Patrick Head here, and I think it's fair to say they were pretty impressed. I'd be surprised if people were not impressed by it.

"To have the first 15 cars within one second in qualifying was impressive, it's clear that there is a high calibre of driver right throughout the field. The people that you would have expected to be at the front are, but there's no reason any of them can't jump up there."

Despite rating the event a success, Palmer admitted there are still a lot of things that can be improved.

"Of course, I've got a list full (of improvements)," said Palmer. "But they are all just minor tweaks, we haven't had any significant problems.

"For example, we need to have electric wheel wrenches because they would halve the time it takes to get all four tyres changed during a qualifying session. And we will have those in time for Brno."