Liam Lawson unsure over unexpected FIA Red Bull assessment

Liam Lawson is unsure whether Red Bull truly has the best internal combustion engine (ICE) on the Formula 1 grid, following reports that the FIA has ranked it as the benchmark.

While an official announcement on the results of the first Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) review has yet to be made, it has been reported that Red Bull's ICE was judged to be the strongest.

Lewis Hamilton confirmed after the Monaco Grand Prix that the teams had been informed Red Bull topped the review, ahead of Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi and Honda.

If the reports are accurate, Red Bull will not receive any tokens to put towards an ICE upgrade, while all of its rivals will be given the opportunity to attempt to close the gap through further development.

Max Verstappen confirmed on media day ahead of this weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix that Red Bull has asked the FIA to review its findings, with discussions having already taken place.

While Lawson believes the Milton Keynes-based manufacturer has done an exceptional job in its first attempt at building an F1 engine, he is unsure whether it is fair to call it the strongest.

Asked if Red Bull has the best power unit, Lawson replied:"I think we have a good power unit for sure. 

"I think we've done maybe [more than] what people expected, even maybe what we expected at the start, coming in with a brand-new power unit, new team to build that. And I think HPP has done an incredible job and we have a very competitive power unit. 

"It's hard to know who's got the actual best. Everybody has different levels of efficiency with downforce and stuff like this, and even within teams you see differences sometimes on race weekends and straight-line performance and stuff. 

"So I don't personally know if we actually have the best, but I just know it's very good. But I think obviously other teams also have very good power units."