Liam Lawson reveals Max Verstappen support during brief Red Bull F1 stint
Max Verstappen supported Liam Lawson during his Red Bull struggles
Liam Lawson said that Max Verstappen was “so good to me” throughout his short, challenging time as a Red Bull Racing driver.
Since then, Lawson revealed that Verstappen has even extended the offer to fly home with him to Monaco if he wishes. Lawson also opened up on his struggles to get comfortable, consistently, with the Red Bull car.
Max Verstappen support during Liam Lawson Red Bull stint
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Lawson’s time alongside Verstappen at Red Bull was very brief. He lasted just two grands prix at the start of 2025, and Verstappen publicly made his disapproval clear over Lawson’s swift demotion back to Racing Bulls.
And as for behind the scenes, Lawson could not speak any more highly of how Verstappen acted towards him.
“He’s also so, so nice as a person. He’s such a nice guy,” said Lawson of Verstappen on the Gypsy Tales podcast.
“Through everything that happened last year with Red Bull, he was so good to me, man.
“Before I came into the team, when I first came on the team, he was super nice, and any questions, he was just really helpful, was happy to help.
“And then afterwards as well, he was really, really good to me.
“Quite often he flies home, and I just moved to Monaco last year, and he’s just like, ‘Just come with me if you ever need a ride.’
“So yeah, he’s a real nice guy.”
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Lawson stepped up to Red Bull after two stints with the junior F1 team AlphaTauri/Racing Bulls. He failed to escape the first stage of qualifying as a Red Bull driver, while P12 in China was his best result, and final with Red Bull.
Lawson was asked what the hardest part was about that Red Bull RB21 car. Lawson joined Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, and his successor Yuki Tsunoda, in failing to keep head above water as teammate to the four-time World Champion Verstappen.
“For me, it’s always going to be I didn’t have enough time to get my head around it.
“So it was very different from the VCARB at the time. But, I think everybody just maybe thinks that it’s got so much front and that it’s undriveable because it’s got so much front, and it’s not actually not like that.
“Especially from where we started last year, even if you look at Max, for example, I think they actually found a lot through the year. Towards the end of the year he was a lot quicker. Because when I was there, the McLarens were gone. We weren’t fighting the McLarens, really, anyway.
“I mean, I wasn’t fighting the McLaren, I was fighting myself at the back!
“But, it’s not just like the car has too much front, because actually, I have always been a type of person that likes a lot of front in the car. It’s not that.
“It’s the balance through the corner wasn’t very good where we started last year. But it’s not just too much front. It’s very sensitive, for sure, when you initially turn in, but it’s just the feeling that you’re trying to find.
“At the end of the day, when you drive these cars, especially in F1, the commitment level is so high. You’re turning into a corner at 300 plus flat out, and not even lifting.
“China Turn 1, for example. It’s just such a high speed that if you’re not 100 percent confident when you’re doing it, it’s not like half a tenth, it’s half a second. You lose so much lap time if you’re not. So you need to be sort of that level of comfort.”
Lawson admitted that he “had it a couple of times through those two weekends,” but that did not include during the all-important Q1.
After the two race weekends in Australia and China, Lawson was sent back to Racing Bulls, as Tsunoda came the other way, replacing him at Red Bull from the Japanese Grand Prix.
Tsunoda also struggled to impress, leading to him being demoted to Red Bull test and reserve driver from 2026. Lawson earned a new deal with Racing Bulls for 2026.
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