Hamilton admits Red Bull built the best F1 engine despite all his doubts

Lewis Hamilton has publicly admitted he was wrong to doubt Red Bull’s ability to build a world-class Formula 1 engine, calling the team’s Ford-partnered power unit — identified by the FIA as the benchmark internal combustion engine — simply “the best engine” in the field.

The seven-time world champion made the admission after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed victories at both the Bahrain and Singapore Grands Prix using the new power unit in its debut season. Hamilton, now racing for Ferrari, said the achievement had “proved everybody wrong.”

“I was like, there’s no way that anyone’s going to be able to build a better engine than what Mercedes, for example, or Ferrari are capable of doing with the resources they have and the experience they have and the IP,” Hamilton said. “And yet again, they proved us wrong, everybody wrong again, and they built the best engine.”

Hamilton’s comments came after he was asked whether he agreed with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who suggested Ferrari — not Red Bull — had the fastest car in Singapore. Hamilton was measured in his response, praising Hadjar before turning his attention to the broader picture of Red Bull’s rise.

“Red Bull have done an amazing job for many, many years. They continuously surprise me,” he said. “I put my hand up many, many years ago when I was younger. I was like, there’s no way they’re going to be able to do what these other teams like McLaren with all that heritage, Ferrari with all that heritage — but they have, and they proved me wrong.”

Hamilton also noted that Red Bull had recovered from a difficult start to the current campaign, warning that their pace now extends beyond straight-line speed. “They’re just as quick through all the corners as us in the last race, and that’s been our strength, so they’ve matched us now through the corners, and they’re three, four tenths quicker down the straights.”

Red Bull established its own engine division, Red Bull Powertrains, at Milton Keynes after Honda’s original decision to exit Formula 1, subsequently bringing Ford on board as a technical partner ahead of the new regulations. The project has accelerated past rivals with decades more experience in F1 engine manufacturing.

Hamilton’s assessment echoes that of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who said in a separate media session that Red Bull had become “the most consistently quick car” over recent weeks — a collective acknowledgement from the paddock that the team’s self-built power unit has reshaped the competitive order.