It's been a surprise announcement or rumor depending on what you've heard about it, but Red Bull has been determined to have the "best" powertrain in F1. Surprising because of the whole 1 podium they have this year, their struggle, and the overwrought consternation of Max Verstappen's status for next year.

Equally befuddling the casual observer is Mercedes being granted 1 upgrade this year. Despite never failing to have at least 1 car on the podium, and winning 6 out of 7 races, mostly by Boy Wonder Kimi.

When looking at the chart above for the year, the picture becomes a bit more clear though. Red Bull currently lead the competitive pack when it comes to straight line speed, suggesting that the chassis and/or power deployment is the problem. Max would probably tend to agree.

However, considering the delta in performance of Mercedes to its peers, giving them any engine upgrade could make this season a bigger snooze for anyone not a Mercedes fan. That being said, based on the past few races Merc may choose to use their upgrades for reliability rather than performance.

Ferrari really stands to gain with a few engine upgrades considering the strength of their chassis, recent improvements aren't even bullying the model at this point.

The story continues to be bleak for Aston Martin. Despite all of Papa Stroll's money, Adrian Newey, and Alonso there are no bright spots for that platform. Except for Haas and Williams to point to and go "well, at least we aren't them." For all the negativity around Williams, at least Vowels can argue to be a better steward of money.

When taken across Engine OEM, the order doesn't change much. It could be argued whatever is going on at Audi is the car is clearly compromised on grip for top line speed.

So Red Bull needs a chassis or deployment fix more than anything if these numbers are truly representative.

Mercedes is evenly split as long as the car holds together. Ferrari has made chassis progress and could be outstanding with an engine upgrade and therapist to was Charles' yips and bad luck. We Tifosi will just have to settle for Hamilton's change of performance. Not being a die hard Hamilton fan, last year watching Hamilton's constant eeyoring was too much to take.