Lewis Hamilton praised Red Bull for fielding an outstanding car this season, highlighting the "phenomenal job" done by the outfit's design team led by Adrian Newey.
After a tight battle with Ferrari in the first part of the season, Red Bull has now isolated itself at the head of the field, courtesy of Max Verstappen's nine wins this season.
The Dutchman's remarkable talent had been the perfect compliment to Red Bull's equally impressive RB18, a new-generation ground effects design that appears to be immune to the porpoising and bouncing issues associated with Formula 1's new regulations and which have significantly impacted Mercedes this year.
©RedBull
"Red Bull has the aerodynamic balance right, they never have any problems with bumps or anything like that and they're just a great team," Hamilton told
"You just have to take your hat off to them. They've done a phenomenal job."
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As he praised the Milton Keynes-based outfit, Hamilton was quick to single out the prominent role played once again by Formula 1 design guru Adrian Newey.
"Adrian Newey generally doesn't build bad cars. My first championship car [in 2007] was an evolution of his design!" Hamilton said.
"I know he has written his dissertation on ground effect floors in the past, so it's no surprise that the team has been able to take advantage of that.
"Previously, Red Bull was used to a high ride height and they had more drag. I think this year they noticed that their engine isn't slower than others at all.
"It had more to do with drag in previous years. They did a fantastic job.
"However, I believe in the young guys in our team and that with their help we can overtake Red Bull."
Red Bull CTO Adrian Newey
During the early years of Red Bull's success in Formula 1, when Hamilton was racing with McLaren, the Briton dismissed his team's rival as just "an energy drink manufacturer", incomparable to the likes of Ferrari or McLaren.
Over a decade on from that somewhat derisive comment, Hamilton admits that Red Bull has proven him spectacularly wrong.
"Anything I would’ve said in the past about the team, I didn’t mean it in a negative way," he said.
"I think years ago I said something about them being a drinks company – or something like that.
"And it was really just highlighting that you would bet on a car manufacturer more so, but they’ve proved me wrong and everyone. And they’ve done a great job."
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