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Liam Lawson has opened up on his brief spell alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, describing the four-time Formula 1 champion as “very real” and “very supportive” during one of the most difficult periods of his career.
Lawson arrived at Red Bull in 2025 carrying significant expectation after an impressive run of races with Racing Bulls the previous season. But the move quickly became a severe examination of both pace and resilience, with Verstappen setting a benchmark Lawson could not consistently match.
The warning signs came immediately. Lawson qualified 18th for the season opener in Australia before crashing out of the race, a start that instantly placed his Red Bull future under scrutiny. A 12th-place finish in Shanghai then deepened the pressure, with his deficit to Verstappen widely cited as a key factor in Red Bull’s decision to drop him after just two races.
The New Zealander was demoted back to Racing Bulls, where he has since begun the process of rebuilding his Formula 1 career. His comments now add a more human dimension to a spell often judged purely through lap time and results. For further context on the circumstances around that China weekend, read our report on how Lawson said a radical Red Bull set-up ‘destroyed’ his final race before demotion.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Lawson made clear that Verstappen’s status inside Red Bull did not translate into distance or indifference.
“In general, Max was just always very real, like he’s somebody that at such a high-level, accomplished position that he’s in, it’d be very easy for him to not be like that,” Lawson said.
“And it’s not just with me; he seems to be like that with everybody. And I think Max is somebody who just wants to race cars and loves to talk about cars, loves to talk about racing.”
That picture contrasts sharply with the ruthless competitive standard Verstappen represents on track. In Formula 1, the first opponent is always the driver across the garage, and Red Bull has rarely been a soft landing for any teammate facing Verstappen’s pace.
Lawson also recalled Verstappen making an effort to engage with him even before they became teammates, asking about his Formula 2 racing and how the car felt when Lawson was a reserve driver.
“When I went to Red Bull through all of it, he was very supportive. I won’t go too much into detail about it, but he was very supportive, very, very supportive,” Lawson said.
“I spoke to a lot of people during that time, but I spoke to him about it, basically, and he was, he was very supportive.”
The message is significant: Verstappen may remain the ultimate measuring stick inside Red Bull, but Lawson’s account suggests the driver behind the visor was not detached from the struggle unfolding on the other side of the garage.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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