Max Verstappen defended Liam Lawson, and perhaps even his predecessors, when answering questions from journalists in Suzuka.
Red Bull arrived in Suzuka with a new livery (custom-made) and a new driver lineup, as alongside Max Verstappen, local hero Yuki Tsunoda was now driving. Liam Lawson was immediately relegated, paying the price for his first two outings where he was never able to be competitive. This controversial decision by Red Bull saw both the media and the drivers themselves, including Max Verstappen, speak out.
The four-time world champion, during the usual media session, explained his “like” on a post that defended Liam Lawson and criticized Red Bull’s decision. Here are Max’s words: “I liked the message, so I think my gesture speaks for itself, right? It wasn’t a mistake. My reaction was shared with the team in general, not only about the change between Tsunoda and Lawson, but about the whole situation. We’ve already discussed this during the last race weekend and again when we got back to the factory.
Agreeing with the team’s decision? Not everything needs to be shared publicly. Our main problem right now is that the RB21 is still not at the expected performance level. Everyone knows that both I and the team are focused on this. The faster we can make the car competitive and easier to drive, the sooner the second car will benefit from the improvements. It’s a natural process.”
Verstappen then added: “Liam has raced in about 11 events before 2025, but at different times. For a newcomer, the start of the season is always tricky: many tracks are unknown, and in some cases, there’s the added challenge of facing a Sprint weekend, which makes everything even more difficult. The car is quite nervous and unstable at various points in the corners. I believe this is due to a combination of factors: cornering speed, type of asphalt, tires, overheating, bumps, and curbs. Some circuits penalize us more than others, and while some issues are easy to solve, others take more work. We’re doing our best to improve the performance.”
And finally: “However, I don’t think optimizing the current package and extracting its full potential will be enough to fight for victories. We’ll keep working and developing the car throughout the season, but it’s hard to say if it will be enough to beat McLaren. Others will keep improving too.”
