Lawson appreciates Verstappen: 'He was very supportive'

The New Zealander was promoted to replace Sergio Perez ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season. However, after just two race weekends, he was demoted to Racing Bulls and replaced by Yuki Tsunoda.

According to Lawson, Verstappen is a very "real" person and has always remained grounded, regardless of everything he has achieved in Formula 1 and motorsport over the years.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Lawson began: "He is in such a high-level position, such an accomplished position that he's had so much success, it'd be very easy for him to not be like that.

Lawson also recounts that Verstappen always asked about how he was doing on Formula 2 as well when he became a reserve driver for the Austrian outfit. "The fact that he was asking me about my stuff, I remember at the time, was just really cool. And he's always been very real like that."

Lawson also said that he appreciated talking to Verstappen after he was demoted following the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix. "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."

He then added: "I spoke to a lot of people during that time, but I spoke to him, you know, about it basically. And he was, he was very supportive.

"I just really appreciated it. I think it was. I think I was so excited to not to go against him, but to be good to go, you know, being a team with him and be able to have the opportunity to basically be in a car that's the same as him and just see everything that he does and basically have a driving lesson from the best in the sport," Lawson explained.

Speaking in his end-of-the-season interview with Viaplay during last year, Verstappen shared that he did not agree with his team's decision to demote Lawson either. "Two races, of course, for a teammate. I didn’t agree with that at the time, because in the end, you end up ruining someone’s chance at a top team," the Dutchman said during his end-of-year interview with Viaplay.

"I have to say, Liam recovered well at Racing Bulls. You could also say: ‘Just forget about it all. I’m done with it.’ Two races are far too early to make a decision on that," the four-time Formula 1 world champion then added.

The New Zealander has enjoyed a positive 2026 campaign so far with Racing Bulls. He has finished inside the points during five of the seven Grands Prix contested so far this year. He is currently sitting 10th in the drivers' standings with 28 points.