Max Verstappen shows true colours with behaviour to sacked F1 driver | F1 | Sport

Demoted Red Bull driver Liam Lawson has spoken of the support he has received from Max Verstappen after a difficult season in his career.

The New Zealander was promoted to Red Bull from Racing Bulls in 2025, replacing the experienced Sergio Perez to partner with Verstappen. However, he struggled in his first two races, leading to his demotion back to Racing Bulls, while he was swiftly replaced by Yuki Tsunoda.

The decision was made after the 24-year-old qualified P18 in Melbourne and finished last in both sprint and main qualifying in China.

He has since rebuilt his reputation with the team, with some impressive performances for Racing Bulls, and Lawson has credited former team-mate Verstappen for his support, which showed the Dutchman’s class.

Speaking on The Gypsy Taled podcast, he said: “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.

“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 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.”

Speaking about Lawson’s demotion last season, former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has claimed that it was not his decision. “It wasn’t my choice,” he said.

“I was always pushed to take drivers from the young driver programme. Helmut [Marko] was a big driver in it.”