Lawson praises Red Bull's 'exceptional' new F1 power unit, admits internal doubts last year

Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson has praised the team's new in-house power unit as "exceptional," revealing that internal confidence in the project was low just a year ago. The Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT) unit, developed in partnership with Ford, has exceeded initial expectations in its debut season despite some early reliability concerns.

Why it matters:

This marks Red Bull's first venture as a full power unit manufacturer, a critical and risky step for the reigning champions as they seek long-term independence. Successfully defying the low internal expectations validates a massive technical investment and could solidify their competitive dominance for the new 2026 engine regulations, while a failure would have been a significant setback.

The details:

• Lawson stated the team "wasn't hearing amazing things" and "wasn't super confident" about the new power unit's performance potential as recently as a year ago during its development phase.
• The New Zealander highlighted the turnaround, noting, "all of a sudden, we have quite a strong engine," crediting the RBPT team for an "exceptional" job.
• The power unit has shown strong performance but faced reliability issues during pre-season testing and the opening rounds, including a retirement for Isack Hadjar's car in Melbourne.
• Lawson contextualized the problems, saying, "with new regulations, it's not expected, but I think there's more understanding," suggesting such teething issues are part of the process.
• He confirmed the engine's performance was a key factor for the team in Melbourne, where teammate Arvid Lindblad scored points on his F1 debut.

What's next:

The focus for Red Bull Powertrains will now shift to ongoing reliability improvements and extracting more performance throughout the season. Lawson, who scored points with a pair of seventh-place finishes in China, emphasized the goal is to "continue to learn and find more performance." The unit's strong initial showing bodes well for Red Bull's future, especially as they prepare for the major 2026 power unit regulation changes with Ford as a full works partner.