I think there is also a rather odd feeling towards Jo because of his Dad, not sure he comes across that well to a lot of fans, and it is fairly obvious his money helped Jo into that drive, so these things never help.
He is a decent peddlar, same as his Dad, but nothing special. Drove in GP2 for a while before finally nailing a win, and again in there he was moved around until he found the right team, where some guys get maybe one chance with their budget.
Let's be honest, Sainz has looked far better, so why not. Palmer will not be missed, he has had a lot of bad luck yes, but is that all someone elses fault?
I'm not so convinced by Sainz. Sure, he is better than Palmer, but I don't think he's a future champion. He's much too clumsy and crashy, he's not a team player at all, he causes drama wherever he goes (ask Pujolar, Verstappen and Kvyat) and his pace isn't really anything out of the ordinary. Sure, maybe that's all Renault want for the time being, but once they start matching Red Bull (which will happen sooner rather than later thanks to their most recent hiring) their driver lineup will expose them, and given that adapting to a different car mid-season is far from the easiest thing to do, I don't see this pushing them any higher than 7th in the championship this year either. It's both a rushed acquisition and one that won't help them out in the long run.
They should've gotten Alonso instead - he's got the same problems with his absurd ego and inability to act as a team member, but at least he's faster and doesn't really want to retire, and with how much money the Enstone team is getting now (hell, another reason to get rid of Palmer), they would've been able to afford him just fine.
And while his circumstances weren't always his fault, Palmer did get the short end of the stick far more often than not. I'm not convinced that his peak is that much worse than Hulkenberg's given his pace in races like Austria and a couple of others this season, as well as the majority of the second half of last season, though I am at least willing to accept that that's more down to the shortcomings of drivers like Hulkenberg and Magnussen.
As for his pay driver status, I really don't get the complaints. The teams matter more than the drivers in this day and age, and they certainly matter more than the fans. That money is necessary. I don't even see it as a necessary evil, but rather an investment into the long-term development of your team. Just look at Perez and his Telmex backing. Even better, look at Stroll and his dad's backing, especially with how much better he's gotten over the course of the season and how much effort he's put into that via testing with the old car. This is generally something I've only ever heard British people complain about, usually in the same way they complain about drivers "whining" or otherwise being unhappy when they're being paid a lot of money. It's like money is their ultimate antagonist, when it's really just a tool for teams to move forward.
I'd understand them a bit better if their secondary argument about wanting to see better drivers had more merit, but this is the first generation which, on average, hasn't had better drivers than the previous one. The top drivers are very good, but the midfielders and backmarkers are largely worse than those of the last decade. Leclerc is the first true sign that things might be changing for the better, but especially after Bianchi and Bottas entered the sport there were basically NO good up-and-coming drivers besides Vandoorne. F2 has become an absolute laughingstock in recent years, GP3 is barely any better and recently even Red Bull have run out of rookies to train. All you had were mediocre drivers who were barely any better than the pay drivers who ultimately did get into the sport. In fact, the argument is even more hurt by the sheer lack of people bemoaning Wehrlein's inevitable fate of being knocked out of the sport. I don't see it being a question of morality either, as shown by the majority of people celebrating Palmer getting kicked out in the middle of the season or Kvyat's second demotion-via-text-message.
