Liam Lawson looks back once more on his Red Bull demotion. The New Zealander was given two race weekends a year ago driving for the Austrians, until he was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda for the Japanese GP. Lawson reveals how much he relied on the support of his former team-mate, Max Verstappen, both during and after his time at Red Bull: ‘He was happy to help me.’
For a very short spell Liam Lawson could call himself a Red Bull driver. For two race weekends in 2025 the New Zealander was team-mate to Max Verstappen, until he was moved back to Racing Bulls ahead of the Japanese GP. Lawson now reveals how much he leaned on the four-time world champion’s support.
“Max is also incredibly kind as a person. He’s a really decent guy. Despite everything that happened with Red Bull last year, he was so good to me,” Lawson explains on the Gypsy Tales Podcast. “Before I joined the team, when I had just joined, he was super nice and with every question he was really helpful. He was happy to help. And even afterwards he was really very kind to me. He often flies home, and I had just moved to Monaco last year, and he would say, ‘Come with me if you need a lift.’ So yeah, he’s a really nice guy.”
On to Melbourne
Lawson is now starting his second season back with Racing Bulls. This year the New Zealander has Arvid Lindblad as his team-mate, after Isack Hadjar was promoted to Red Bull. Lawson, like his colleagues, has completed the test days and is looking to the season opener in Melbourne with optimism. “The only thing is that the car might be a bit inconsistent,” he said in Bahrain. “Other things we’ve discovered are actually very positive. So yes, I don’t think we currently have any glaring problem or limitation. It’s just a matter of putting everything in order and preparing as best we can, because Melbourne will, as everyone says, be very different from here.”
