Jolyon Palmer crash only fans the flames as Robert Kubica and Oliver Rowland await in complex Renault scenario

Palmer suffered two accidents during Friday practice that did nothing to help banish the rumours that he will be replaced at Renault

Jolyon Palmer crashed out of second practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix (Getty)

If the sight of his Renault grinding to a halt after am hydraulics failure at his home grand prix bought him some more time, the error that sent Jolyon Palmer into the barrier outside the final corner in the second Friday practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix did exactly the opposite.

Suddenly, the prospect of the former GP2 champion being replaced before the season does not seem that impossible. The lonely walk from the final hairpin of the Hungaroring will have been a painful one for the British driver, given it comes fewer than two weeks since his own boss, Cyril Abiteboul, had to speak publicly to rubbish rumours that he was about to sign Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr to replace Palmer.

The day did not get off to a good start, with Palmer caught out by a newly-installed kerb on the outside of the quick Turn 4 left-hander that ripped off part of his front wing. If the first session was disruptive, the second was disastrous, and as Palmer dejectedly made his way down the pit lane to the safety of the Renault garage, an ominous message hung over him in the stands with “Kubica is coming” scribbled across a Polish flag.

When Robert Kubica tests the same Renault on Wednesday at Hungary’s mid-season test, Palmer will surely be a keen onlooker as the Pole is put through his paces to see if the 32-year-old is capable of a fairy tale F1 return. Six years ago, Kubica nearly lost his right arm after a heavy accident in the Ronde di Andora rally in Italy that appeared to end his fledgling F1 career.

That could all change on Wednesday, and if Palmer continues to struggle over the weekend, Renault will be faced with a difficult decision ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix in a month’s time after the summer break. With Palmer pointless this season compared to his teammate Nico Hulkenberg’s haul of 26 points, there’s no doubting Palmer has his back against the wall.

Yet the early mutterings out of the F1 circus is that not only Kubica unlikely to come back into F1 this season, he is unlikely to do so at all. There are serious concerns over the fitness of the arm that he severed and the range of movement that he has to deal with tight tracks such as Monaco and Hungary. Renault boss Abiteboul has already confirmed that Kubica is testing to see if he is an option for 2018, not 2017, yet Palmer cannot rest easily just yet.

Palmer also crashed out of the first practice session when his front wing collapsed (Getty)

There are two other drivers in the frame, and given that one of them is last year’s third-place finisher in GP2 and the other sits in the same position heading into the Hungarian round of the F2 championship this weekend, they are enticing options.

Sergey Sirotkin is without a drive this season, and while he has seen regular drives as Renault’s test driver on Fridays, he is yet to receive any call to step up full time. The other option is another Briton in the shape of Oliver Rowland.

Robert Kubica will get his chance on Wednesday to prove he is a contender for a race seat next year (Getty)

The DAMS F2 driver trails series leader Charles Leclerc by 69 points, but claimed victory this year in the feature race in Monaco and will receive his first F1 test with Renault when he drives Renault’s 2012 Lotus, the same one that Kubica recently drove at Goodwood, with the prospect of testing this season’s car a very real possibility later in the year in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season.

“It’s a really exciting time for me to drive Renault’s F1 car in front of 100,000 people in Holland,” Rowland said this week. “I see this as a step in the right direction to achieving my dream of driving in Formula 1.”

Oliver Rowland will get behind the wheel of an F1 for the first time at Assen in August (Getty)

With Hulkenberg taking to the famous Dutch track the following day, it’s not out of the question that the line-up could well be the same one come the Australian Grand Prix in March next year. But much of that depends on Palmer, and after an abysmal first day in Budapest, it’s about time he clicks his season into gear if he’s to have any chance of remaining on the F1 grid.