Liam Lawson reveals how Max Verstappen supported him after Red Bull demotion

Racing Bulls Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson has shared how Max Verstappen was "really good" to him after he was demoted from Red Bull in 2025.

Heading into the 2025 season, the New Zealander signed with Red Bull for the seat alongside the four-time champion, taking Sergio Perez's place. But after just two race weekends, Lawson was replaced by Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda. While Tsunoda remained in the seat until the end of 2025, he has now moved to a reserve driver role with Isack Hadjar assuming the position for 2026.

"He's also so, so nice as a person. He's such a nice guy. Through everything that happened last year with Red Bull, he was so good to me, man," Lawson explained during an appearance on the Gypsy Tales Podcast.

"Before I came into the team, when I first came on the team, he was super nice and any questions, he was just helpful, really helpful, was happy to help. And then afterwards as well, he was really, really good to me."

He added: "He was honestly really, really good. And then quite often he flies home, and I just moved to Monaco last year, and he's like 'Just come with me if you ever need a ride.' So he's a real, real nice guy."

After his move from Red Bull to Racing Bulls, Lawson retained his seat for 2026 and will enter the new season alongside rookie driver Arvid Lindblad. 

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Pre-season testing came to an end on Friday 20 February, and the countdown is now on to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 6-8 March. Lawson was positive about the team's pre-season testing, explaining that there weren't any standout issues.

"It's just probably a little bit inconsistent is the only thing. But I think, honestly, yesterday we were, in terms of specifically braking and entries, actually were not too bad for us. But yeah, obviously, we're trying a lot of different things at the moment and some stuff has not worked," he told the media in Bahrain.
 
"And then other stuff we found has been quite positive. So yeah, I don't think there's really a standout issue or limitation that we have at the moment. It's just sort of putting things together and obviously preparing as well as we can because Melbourne, as we're saying, is going to be very, very different compared to here."