Jolyon Palmer says he is relieved to have finally scored an "overdue" first point in Formula One during Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Having struggled to match Renault teammate Kevin Magnussen's pace in what Palmer described as a "pretty depressing" qualifying, the Briton recovered from 19th on the grid to finish 10th in Sepang, recording his first F1 point at the 16th attempt.

"Point-scorer: It feels good," he said. "I'm really happy. I think the whole week has been really positive. The race was really smooth -- I wish it was always so straightforward!

"The car gave me everything I needed, we handled the tyres well and the team did a great job with strategy and pit stops, and we beat some quicker cars. We got a little bit of a break as well; finally everything came together and we got it home to 10th."

It was a timely performance from Palmer, who faces an uncertain future in F1 as Renault continues to deliberate over its driver line-up for 2017. He believes his side of the garage was entitled a bit of luck after profiting from a string of retirements on his way to a spot in the top 10.

"I was really disappointed with how qualifying went especially as I'd been feeling strong all weekend, so I'm glad the race went really well and we could make up for it today.

"It was perfect race from my side. I've been happy with how I've been driving recently, but i messed it up a bit yesterday and today I brought it back. It's kind of where we were on Friday a little bit more, and we got a bit of luck with Lewis and somebody else dropping out, but i think we are overdue it."