Photo: Race Pictures

Lawson gives 'very positive' early verdict on new Red Bull–Ford engine

13:31, 27 Jan

byTobia Elia

Liam Lawson shared his first impressions of the new Red Bull–Ford power unit at the end of the opening day in Barcelona.

“From a power unit perspective it’s been very, very positive so far”

- Liam Lawson

The newly developed power unit from the Milton Keynes-based team, produced entirely in-house with technical support from Ford, racked up 195 laps on day one, covering virtually the same mileage as Mercedes and Ferrari.

Asked by F1 for an early verdict on the new engine, Lawson said: “It feels good, honestly. So far today it’s been difficult to really judge, but the main focus at the moment is reliability. We’ve completed a good number of laps, with only a few minor things along the way.

“The only issues we had today were precautionary, not actual problems. From a power unit perspective it’s been very, very positive so far. It’s still hard to compare ourselves to everyone else, but we’ll keep learning over the next few days.”

Liam Lawson on track during winter testing - Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull 'surprises' itself with 'smooth' first day with new PU in Barcelona

Isack Hadjar, who will line up alongside Max Verstappen this season, also admitted he was surprised by the amount of mileage covered by the new power unit, on top of setting the fastest time of the day ahead of George Russell.

The Frenchman had the honour of being the first to take the RB22 out on track in Barcelona, while the four-time world champion is running today.

Here are his thoughts on the matter.

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