Red Bull backed to pull clear after rough start

Jolyon Palmer believes Red Bull’s place in a midfield fight with Haas and Alpine will not last, arguing the team’s resources, upgrade path and underlying pace should eventually drag it clear after a troubled opening three races.

Red Bull sits sixth in the constructors’ standings with 16 points, level with Alpine and two behind Haas, but Palmer said the unusual month-long break created by the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix could work in its favor. Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, the former F1 driver said: “With the resource that Red Bull have got, you don't want to give them a month to pore through data, work on the car, bring new parts.”

That matters because Palmer does not see Red Bull’s start as a true reflection of its level. He said the team “have actually not had a smooth weekend yet and clearly still need to find some performance,” pointing to a run of disrupted events in which Max Verstappen started from the back in Australia, more points were lost in China, and Red Bull still lacked “that extra bit of speed” in Japan.

Palmer said there was “a lot more in it than what they have shown in China and Japan,” with Red Bull still searching for “the sweet spot of the car.” He added that once that arrives, the team’s baseline should tell. “You do feel like that has to come out on top when it starts ticking over, over Haas and over Alpine,” he said.

Miami now shapes as the first major test of that recovery. Palmer said Red Bull needs only “a smooth weekend” for both drivers to show more, adding that Verstappen “will again be a real threat.” The team is also expected to bring a large update package there after earlier changes in Japan “didn’t really seem to bear fruit.”

Haas and Alpine have taken advantage of Red Bull’s messy start. Palmer’s fellow F1 Nation guest James Hinchcliffe said Haas had been “impressive in maximising their opportunities,” while also noting that different teams are taking different approaches to development in the opening phase of the season.

Palmer also pointed to Alpine’s plan to introduce “big upgrades at set intervals,” with one package he believed was due in Miami. Even so, he suggested Alpine’s longer-game approach may not be enough once Red Bull starts converting its potential into points.

For Palmer, that is the key point in this early constructors’ battle. Haas and Alpine have earned their positions, but he expects Red Bull’s scale and development capacity to reassert themselves soon enough, with Verstappen’s threat at the front likely to return once the team finally puts a clean weekend together.