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Under-pressure Jolyon Palmer refreshed by Kilimanjaro climb

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- After scaling one of the world's tallest mountains, Jolyon Palmer is ready to fight to save his Formula One career in the remaining races of 2017.

Palmer entered F1's summer break with questions circulating about his future at Renault and in Formula One, having failed to score a point in the opening 11 races of the year. Renault's decision to hand Robert Kubica one of the post-Hungarian Grand Prix test days only increased the uncertainty over Palmer's position, with rumours he could be replaced ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

That demotion never materialised but Palmer's results are likely to come under heavy scrutiny in the remaining nine races of the campaign. Keen to get away from the speculation, the Englishman used the lull in the calendar to tackle Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, with a group of family and friends, a trek which took a week in total.

"It was something different," Palmer said at his Thursday media session at Spa. "It was that or sit around at home, not do very much, and chill out so I thought, why not?

"Six days [to climb] were quite easy and then the summit day, you knew about it that's for sure. It was an eight-hour descent, and 1,300 metres up, and it is high altitude, too, 19,000 feet - and minus 44, with some windchill, so I was freezing.

For Palmer, the climb was a welcome reprieve from constant questions about his future

"On the mountain, there is no contact with the outside world, there is no signal, so I spent a week not knowing what was going on in the world, so it was nice to switch off from everything and focus on climbing the mountain. You clear your head and come back down into the madness of Formula One again."

Memorable 2 weeks in Tanzania. Now back home and back to work! #Kilimanjaro #Jambo 🇹🇿🗻

A post shared by Jolyon Palmer (@jolyon_palmer) on

Palmer, who won the 2014 GP2 championship, is entering familiar territory after his second F1 summer break. Last year the Englishman was also scoreless at this stage of the season and under pressure to score points and retain his seat, something he did with a strong finish to the year.

Having earned a contract extension once before Palmer has no doubts he can prove his worth to Renault again before the final race of 2017.

"Last year I had a much better second half, and it is clear I need to do the same, I know I can do it. I just need to dig in, push on and put some results together. I did it last year, I can do it again this year. The car is in a better place, so I have to do it on track.

"I am not thinking about next year, but focussed on this season. We have just gone halfway through the year. There are nine races to go and I am focussed on doing the best I can in each one of them."