Liam Lawson has opened up about his relationship with Max Verstappen, particularly what the Dutchman was like prior to his move to Red Bull ahead of the 2025 season.
Lawson was selected as Sergio Perez’s replacement before last season got underway, despite having made only a series of stand-in appearances for Racing Bulls.
Nevertheless, the New Zealander was placed alongside the four-time world champion but was demoted back to Racing Bulls after just two races.
He struggled to adjust immediately to Red Bull’s RB21 but did go on to perform well for Racing Bulls, resulting in a contract for 2026.
Despite not having long as Verstappen’s team-mate, Lawson got on well with the 28-year-old, whom he revealed was always on hand to answer questions.
Discussing what Verstappen is like on the Gypsy Tales podcast, Lawson said: "He's also so, so nice — like, as a person, he's such a nice guy. Through everything that happened last year with Red Bull, he was so good to me.
"Before I came into the team, when I first joined the team, he was super nice. And with any questions, he was just really helpful.
"He was happy to help. And afterwards as well, he was really, really good to me."
Since Lawson’s return to the sister team, Verstappen has continued to offer support — even to the extent of offering him a way to return home to Monaco.
"He was really, really good," added Lawson. "And then still — like, yeah — quite often he flies home, and I just moved to Monaco last year.
"He’s just like, you know, ‘Just come with me if you ever need a ride.’ So he’s, yeah, a really nice guy."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365’s Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding as they look back on last week’s first test in Bahrain and this week’s second test at the same venue. The trio debate Max Verstappen’s criticism of the regulations and whether Formula 1 is facing an identity crisis.
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