Liam Lawson has spoken about the unexpected support he received from Max Verstappen during his brief time as a Red Bull Formula 1 driver in late 2024 and early 2025. Lawson stepped into Sergio Perez’s role at the end of 2024 but lasted only two races alongside Verstappen before being moved back to the junior Racing Bulls team. Despite Lawson’s difficult start, Verstappen showed continued encouragement and understanding toward his former teammate.
Early struggles and replacement of Lawson at Red Bull
The 24-year-old Kiwi driver faced a tough beginning to the 2025 season, crashing out of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and failing to score any points in the Chinese Grand Prix, where he started last for both the sprint race and the grand prix. After just these two events, Red Bull decided to replace him with Yuki Tsunoda, who also struggled to perform as Verstappen’s teammate and eventually lost his seat at the end of that year. Despite these results, Verstappen maintained a positive view of Lawson’s attitude and efforts during that difficult phase.
Verstappen praises Lawson’s character and attitude
Lawson described Verstappen’s personal support during his time at Red Bull in a recent interview on the Gypsy Tales podcast. He said,
“He’s also so so nice as a person. Through everything that happened last year with Red Bull he was so good to me,”
adding,
“Just a real nice guy. Just wants to drive all the time, just wants to race and that’s it he doesn’t really care about anything else.”
Verstappen expresses disagreement with Red Bull’s quick decision to drop Lawson
At the end of 2025, Verstappen openly voiced his disagreement with Red Bull’s choice to demote Lawson after only two races. Speaking to Viaplay, Verstappen explained,
“Two races for a team-mate, of course I didn’t agree with that at the time. Because ultimately, someone is giving up their chance… yes, then you’re ruining [that chance] at a top team. I have to say that Liam has done well at Racing Bulls.”
He further noted,
“You could also say, ‘just leave it, I don’t care anymore’, but two races is far too early to make a decision. In the end, Yuki got in and that shows how difficult it was.”
Upcoming seasons and team changes within Red Bull
Following Lawson’s return to Racing Bulls and Tsunoda’s departure, Red Bull promoted Isack Hadjar at the end of 2025, making him Verstappen’s sixth teammate since Daniel Ricciardo left the team in 2018. Looking ahead to the 2026 season, both Verstappen and Lawson are preparing for their campaigns with their respective teams. A final pre-season test is scheduled to take place this week in Bahrain as they gear up for the new Formula 1 season, heightening anticipation around their upcoming performances.
