Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Liam Lawson says Red Bull’s first in-house Formula 1 power unit has become the standout strength of Racing Bulls’ 2026 package, with the New Zealander admitting “nobody expected” it to be this strong in its first season.
Speaking to select media including RacingNews365, Lawson said the DM01 has quickly emerged as the clearest advantage in Racing Bulls’ car under F1’s new regulations, which made Red Bull its own engine supplier for both its works team and sister outfit. “In general, our power unit has been very, very strong,” Lawson said. “Especially for a season one power unit, nobody expected it to be like this.”
That is a striking shift from the concerns that surrounded Red Bull’s engine project before the season. Building an F1 power unit in-house for the first time carried obvious risk, particularly for a company without the background of a major road-car manufacturer. Instead, Lawson’s assessment from inside Racing Bulls is that the engine has become the team’s main weapon in the opening phase of the year.
He said Racing Bulls has managed to extract performance consistently across race weekends, which has helped turn the VCARB03 into what looks like an all-round competitive package near the front of the midfield. “That has really been the strong point for us,” Lawson said. “With our car, we haven’t had it easy, but we’ve felt we can get the maximum out of it. Each weekend we’ve been able to extract everything out of the car, which has been positive.”
The early results support that view. Lawson has started 2026 strongly and sits 10th in the championship after two points finishes from the first three grands prix, along with seventh place in the sprint race in China.
Lawson also made clear that Racing Bulls’ progress is not complete. He said the car still lacks “just a little bit of raw speed” and “a little bit of downforce,” adding: “I think once we find that, we’ll be in a good place.” That leaves Racing Bulls with a clear development direction, improving the chassis around a power unit that already looks capable of giving the team a platform to fight higher up the order.
Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies has delivered a similar verdict on the DM01. Speaking to The Race, Mekies said the power unit had “clearly exceeded expectations” and admitted Red Bull had expected to be in a much worse position at the start. He said a bad engine could have left the project seriously compromised for two or three years, even in a sport where “even two tenths” can make a major difference, but added that those fears around the power unit have now disappeared.
That does not mean Red Bull believes it has already produced the benchmark engine. Mekies said the average gap to Mercedes’ HPP power unit remains around three tenths per lap, a reminder that there is still ground to recover despite the strong start. He also said Red Bull still needs to find the lost tenths and address the weak areas of the car, although he insisted the team knows what it has to do.
For Racing Bulls, that balance is what makes the opening races so encouraging. The team appears to have a solid overall package, but Lawson’s comments point to the engine as the factor that has changed the picture most. What was supposed to be Red Bull’s biggest unknown has instead become the strongest part of the car, and that gives Racing Bulls a far stronger base for the rest of 2026.