Liam Lawson laughs at Toto Wolff’s dramatic Red Bull verdict

Liam Lawson has brushed off Toto Wolff's suggestion that Red Bull's new power unit is one second faster than the other manufacturers.

Red Bull has entered its own power unit for the first time this year, building it in collaboration with Ford.

It hit no major snags at the Barcelona shakedown event last month and has caught the attention of many drivers and team bosses alike in Bahrain.

This included Wolff, who stated Red Bull is now the benchmark team and that its engine is up to one second per lap faster than the competition.

The comment amused Lawson, who is also running the Red Bull power unit at the sister Racing Bulls squad.

“One second faster than everybody! Who said that?” Lawson told media including RacingNews365.

When Lawson was told it was Wolff, he laughed and said: “My God.”

However, Lawson acknowledged that the power unit is indeed producing strong numbers at the early stages of the test.

“We’ll find out in Melbourne,” he said. “Honestly, at the moment, the power unit is working very, very well, which is good.

“But in terms of performance numbers, it is so hard to tell, because we have no idea what anybody else is doing.

“On the performance side, we definitely think it’s strong. I wouldn’t say it’s one second faster than everybody.

“But we’ll find out pretty soon. All okay so far.”