Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer discovered he was being sacked by Renault through a magazine article.
Palmer, 33, drove for the French outfit for one-and-a-half seasons but has not raced in F1 since his career came to a crashing halt in October 2017, when he was axed. The Brit had been a test driver for Force India and Lotus before landing a full-time seat with Renault in 2016.
He scored a single point in his debut year, partnering Kevin Magnussen and finishing 18th in the drivers’ standings. Palmer's results didn't improve the following season amid frequent car reliability issues, which made him well aware that he would likely lose his seat for the 2018 season.
But, seven years on, Palmer has opened up on the cold manner in which he found out Renault were sacking him ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix - with four races still left in the 2017 season. He recalled the moment he read the bombshell news on Autosport that he was being replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr - just 19 months after his Renault debut - without so much as a conversation with team boss Cyril Abiteboul.
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Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Palmer said: "My brother sent me a message and was like 'oh, have you seen this', and it was Autosport - 'Sainz to replace Palmer'. I was like, 'what?!' Genuinely, that was the first I'd heard of it. I was at home and I clicked on it. I was really reading my own downfall on Autosport."
Asked if he had any prior clues about his dismissal, he added: "I'm not an idiot, I knew I wasn't going to be staying at the end of the year. The season wasn't going well. I didn't know if I'd finish the season, I'd hoped I would. I actually had a great run in Spa when I was faster than [2017 team-mate Nico] Hulkenberg.
"I just didn't expect to read about my own demise. I thought someone from the team was going to see [the news] and reach out, but no one did. I came out to Singapore in the press conference on Thursday and our head of media was like, 'are you good to go up?' I told him 'No! There is no way I could face the world's media before someone tells me what is conclusively happening here'.
"I was waiting, there was no sign of Cyril, no sign of management. I was thinking let's have a sit down and at least tell me to my face what's going on. Eventually, Cyril came over and told me, but the whole year was handled in a pretty bad way."
Immediately after reading the news, Palmer managed to clinch a career-best finish with sixth place in Singapore. His final race was in Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, after which Sainz - now 30 and on his way out of Ferrari - stepped in for the next race in Austin, Texas.
"I don't know why [Abiteboul hadn't spoken to me beforehand]," Palmer continued. "The Autosport story probably came before Renault were ready, but you'd think I'd hear from my boss to tell me whether it was true or not. I had to force the conversation so it left a bad taste."
Palmer suggested that the mishandling of the situation could be down to the secretive nature of F1 deals, where announcements are not made until things have been finalised. Now a pundit for F1 TV, BBC Sport and Channel 4, Palmer admitted he felt a sense of relief after realising his difficult stint in F1 was coming to a close.
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