Red Bull handed 'great news' boost after Spa podium

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer has offered Red Bull a piece of "great news" after its F1 podium at Spa.

Red Bull's form has been a major story from the 2026 season, with the RB22 showing genuine pace across a variety of circuit types in recent rounds. The team, under the stewardship of Laurent Mekies, appears to have turned a corner after a difficult start to the campaign.

Max Verstappen's podium finish at Spa-Francorchamps was the latest evidence that Red Bull has rediscovered a competitive edge, and Palmer believes the signs are hugely encouraging for the four-time world champion and his team.

Writing in his latest column for F1, Palmer said: "The great news for Red Bull is that they seem to be competitive across a whole host of circuits, needing many different characteristics and requirements from the car.

"In the early part of the season both drivers were struggling with a lack of downforce, but also a real consistency of balance across not only a lap, but even individual corners.

"Now they seem to have found their rhythm and they hit the ground running at Spa with impressive pace from the very first laps of practice, on a circuit where the long, fast corners completely expose any nasty handling imbalances."

It was not just Verstappen who impressed in Belgium as Isack Hadjar enjoyed a strong weekend of his own.

Charging from the back of the grid to finish sixth, Palmer believes it was Hadjar's best race weekend yet.

"Isack has been extremely solid this year, but I actually thought Spa was his best race weekend yet, it was pretty much faultless," Palmer wrote.

“His ability to play the team game had clear benefits for Max and as a comparison, he gave a much bigger tow than Yuki Tsunoda offered Max in Abu Dhabi last year.

"But behind his weekend was a backbone of pace. He's been impressively quick generally this season, particularly when you contrast him to every one of his predecessors who have struggled when going up against Verstappen in the same team.

"Not since Daniel Ricciardo in 2018 have Red Bull had a second driver this consistently quick and it's paying off with some good points too."