Liam Lawson shares what would leave people really ‘surprised’ by Max Verstappen

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Red Bull Racing reserve driver Liam Lawson has shared what would leave people ‘surprised’ by Max Verstappen if they met him.

The young Kiwi is spending a lot of time in the Red Bull garage this year after missing out on a seat on the F1 grid this year.

Speaking at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, Lawson was speaking about the three-time world champion.

Lawson shared what surprised him about Verstappen

To become a Formula 1 world champion, by nature you have to be incredibly ruthless.

Engineers can ask their drivers to make the best decision for the team, but ultimately, all 20 drivers out on track are trying to add as many points as possible to their personal tally.

There are countless examples of instructions being ignored or decisions being made that went against the wishes of the team.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber’s famous ‘Multi 21’ discussion during the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix is one of the most famous examples.

More recently, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly collided in Australia last year, denying both drivers a decent haul of points.

Max Verstappen has spent his career making sure he’s maximising his return from every race and isn’t afraid to get his elbows out and drive extremely aggressively.

However, Liam Lawson has admitted that people might be surprised by how nice Verstappen is off the track.

The 22-year-old is going to spend this year shadowing the multiple world champion and trying to learn as much as he can before he potentially gets the chance to race against him next year.

Verstappen not as ruthless off-track as he is on-track

Asked who’s not as nice as people might think they are, Lawson dealt with the question diplomatically and said: “I think people would probably be surprised who was more nice than they think.

“I’m going to do that, rather than the negative. Max Verstappen is actually away from the car, a very, very nice guy and a really genuine person.

“Obviously, he’s very committed and competitive when he’s driving, in Zandvoort, he was really nice, really open to talk.”

It’s been a while since Verstappen has been in any sort of battle on the track given the difference in speed between Red Bull and the rest of the grid, but when he’s racing wheel-to-wheel he never gives an inch.

It’s why some may be surprised to hear what Lawson said about Verstappen’s temperament when he’s not trying to win races.

Being able to switch between those two mindsets is one of the reasons why the Dutchman has been so ruthless in his pursuit of world championships.