At the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, Red Bull's first competitive outing, saw them take 3rd place with Verstappen, Honda's first podium since returning to Formula One in 2015. Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff made comment regarding Red Bull's form saying "they look completely different from before, watching them pass Sebastian [Vettel] in turn 3, power was enormous, the combination of Red Bull and Honda this year does indeed look rather threatening". Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton also commented on the performance gain, "they definitely have a much better power unit this year, they are pretty much just as quick as us, the improvement is impressive".