Revealed: How Max Verstappen treated former Red Bull F1 team-mate

Liam Lawson has revealed how Max Verstappen supported him during his failed stint as a Red Bull Formula 1 driver.

Lawson replaced Sergio Perez at the end of 2024 but lasted just two races as Verstappen’s team-mate before he was demoted back to Racing Bulls.

The 24-year-old Kiwi crashed out of the 2025 season-opening Australian Grand Prix and failed to score points in the Chinese Grand Prix after qualifying last for both the sprint race and the grand prix.

Lawson was himself replaced by Yuki Tsunoda, who struggled to make an impact alongside Verstappen and lost his Red Bull seat at the end of 2025.

According to Lawson, Verstappen was “so good to me” while they were Red Bull team-mates.

“He’s also so so nice as a person. Through everything that happened last year with Red Bull he was so good to me,” Lawson told the Gypsy Tales podcast.

“When I first came on the team he was super nice and was happy to help. And afterwards as well he was really really good to me.

“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 disagreed with Red Bull’s decision

Verstappen admitted at the end of 2025 that he did not agree with Red Bull’s decision to demote Lawson, telling Viaplay: “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.

“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.”

Isack Hadjar was promoted by Red Bull at the end of 2025 to become Verstappen’s sixth team-mate since Daniel Ricciardo left the team in 2018.

Lawson and Verstappen are gearing up for their respective campaigns with Racing Bulls and Red Bull in 2026, with a final pre-season test taking place in Bahrain this week.