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Max Verstappen has had seven teammates at Red Bull, and Liam Lawson says they keep making the ‘stupid’ mistake of thinking they can beat him.
Verstappen has a long history of destroying his teammates in the same car, with Red Bull kicking many of them to the curb. Among them was Lawson, who lasted just two races with the team in 2025.
The New Zealander could not adapt to the car, ultimately getting knocked out in Q1 in Australia and China and scoring no points. Red Bull felt Verstappen contributed to Lawson’s struggles, as his demands made it more difficult for the latter to get comfortable.
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Liam Lawson says Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammates are ‘stupid’ to think they can beat him
Lawson was not afraid of being Verstappen’s teammate, despite the number of drivers who came and went before him. He would become one of them, as would Yuki Tsunoda, who struggled immensely in the RB21.
Part of the reason for other drivers’ struggles at Red Bull, according to Lawson, is that they believe that they could beat Verstappen in equal machinery. Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, he says it is a ‘stupid’ mentality to have.
Asked about Verstappen and how he questioned Lawson’s exit from the team, he said: “Yeah, 100%. I spoke to a lot of people during that time, but I spoke to him about it basically and he was very supportive.
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“I think I just really appreciated it. I think it was somebody that I think I was so excited, not to go against him, but to be in 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 have a driving lesson from the best in the sport.
“And that was something I was very excited for, and I never went in there like, these guys that go in there and talk about trying to go in and beat him straight away.
“And it’s just such a stupid thing to do. I think it’s more having somebody like him to learn off was very exciting for me.”
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Liam Lawson outlines how supportive Max Verstappen was at Red Bull
Verstappen supported Lawson during his time as a Red Bull driver. The 24-year-old noted how the Dutchman would always speak to him during his junior days and as a reserve driver for the team.
Lawson added: “Even when I was a reserve, actually, I always noticed that he would always make an effort to just acknowledge me and say hi.
“This is ages ago, so it was like 2021 or 2022, the first couple of times I’d go to a race as a reserve. And even then, he knew I was racing F2 and so he’d come and ask me about it. ‘How’s F2 going? How’s the car? How’s everything feeling?’
“The fact that he was asking me about my stuff, I remember at the time, was just really cool. He’s always been very real like that. And then 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.”
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