Jolyon Palmer was forced to retire from today's (Sunday 30 June) GP2 Sprint Race at Silverstone, after an incident on lap 14 with backmarker Sergio Canamasas.

Starting from third on the grid, Jolyon was sixth at the first corner when he was innocently hit by DAMS driver Stephane Richelmi. Although Jolyon did well to control the slide, he dropped down to 15th by the end of the first lap.

An early safety car period bunched up the field and Jolyon, who has gained 77 places in races so far, took advantage, passing Canamasas and Rene Binder in once corner at The Loop on lap eight. In the process, Canamasas broke his front wing on Binder's car and pitted.

Jolyon again made a move at The Loop on lap 12, passing Kevin Ceccon, and then came across Canamasas again on lap 14 to lap the Spaniard. With no blue flags being waved, Jolyon attempted a move up the inside of Brooklands, but Canamasas turned in on him, forcing Jolyon out of the race. Canamasas was handed a 10 stop/go penalty for his part in the incident.

Speaking afterwards, Jolyon commented: "I got a poor start with too much wheel spin and was then hit by Richelmi at turn one which dropped me a long way back. I was coming through the field again until I tried to lap Canamasas who turned in on me and ended my race. I have no idea what he was trying to do. It's a very disappointing end to my home race as at least a podium should have been possible."

Jolyon is back in GP2 action next weekend (5-7 July) at the Nurburgring for rounds 11 and 12 of the championship, with full coverage available on www.jolyonpalmer.com.

Silverstone GP2 Sprint Race Result

1. J Lancaster, Hilmer Motorsport, 21 laps
2. R Haryanto, Barwa Addax, +6.5s
3. J Calado, ART Grand Prix, +7.9s
4. J Leal, Racing Engineering, +8.4s
5. S Bird, RUSSIAN TIME, +9.3s
6. T Dillmann, RUSSIAN TIME, +14.5s
7. F Nasr, Carlin, +14.6s
8. M Ericsson, DAMS, +15.3s
9. A Rossi, Caterham, +15.8s
DNF. Jolyon Palmer