F1 boss heaps praise on Red Bull’s impressive power unit

Red Bull will compete this season with a power unit developed in collaboration with Ford, and early indications suggest it is highly competitive. Vowles did not hold back his praise for the achievement of the Milton Keynes-based team, particularly given the challenges of building a power unit from scratch.

"I've been surprised, but in a big, positive way for the sport with Red Bull's power unit, both in terms of how competitive it is and the fact that building a power unit from scratch in your first year is complicated. To deliver it on track and have both of your teams running big kilometres is mighty," Vowles said, speaking to GPblog during the pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Vowles also highlighted Mercedes, commending the team for the mileage they covered on the second day of testing.

"I've been impressed with that. I've been impressed with just some; I probably shouldn't be, because I used to be part of it, but Mercedes hit the ground running and then did a race distance on day two. That's kind of a big laugh in everyone else's face, showing exactly how advanced they are in terms of what they're doing right now. Those are the two teams that impressed me in terms of how they're doing it," he concluded.

The words of the Williams team principal mirror those of McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who earlier admitted to being surprised by how well and reliable the Red Bull engine has proven to be.