Liam Lawson picks Max Verstappen as the 'worst loser' on the 2025 F1 grid

Red Bull driver Liam Lawson picked his teammate Max Verstappen as the "worst loser" on the current F1 grid. The Kiwi driver got his promotion to the senior team after just 11 races with the Racing Bulls F1 team over two years.

The 22-year-old had made his debut on the grid after he replaced the injured Daniel Ricciardo during the 2023 Dutch GP and raced for a further four more races. However, after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, Lawson replaced the Aussie once again for the remainder of six races in the season after Ricciardo was let go by the Faeza-based outfit.

In his Q&A session with ESPN uploaded on Instagram on January 31, Liam Lawson played the word association game and answered the question about which driver was the 'worst loser'.

"Max Verstappen," Lawson said.

Lawson picked himself as the "most competitive" on the 2025 F1 grid, seemingly echoing the performances he had during his six-race stint with RB late last year.

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Red Bull team boss comments on Max Verstappen-Liam Lawson lineup

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said that having Liam Lawson in the Austrian team was "great" but warned the young Kiwi of the challenge of being teammates with Max Verstappen.

Speaking at a Ford event last week, Horner claimed that partnering the four-time champion at Red Bull was no easy task (as quoted by GPBlog):

"It's great to have Liam with us this year. Being Max Verstappen's teammate is probably the hardest job in Formula 1. But in Liam, I think we have got a driver who is incredibly talented. He is a young guy, just making his way in the sport, and I think that he has the skill, the determination, and the mentality to cope with it."

The young Kiwi himself previewed his 2025 season driving alongside the Dutch champion and reflected on the 'big role' he would have to play in Red Bull's championship hopes:

"It's very exciting, but obviously, a big role," Lawson said. "For me, I'm not super experienced in Formula 1, but I have been involved in the sport for a few years as a reserve driver in the background, so I do feel ready and excited. Obviously, the first part of the season is coming up fast, so preparations are pretty big at the moment,"

Liam Lawson, who was part of the Red Bull junior program, replaced Sergio Perez in the senior team after the latter's contract was terminated by the Milton-Keynes outfit at the end of the 2024 season.

Lawson and Max Verstappen will look to take the Austrian team back to glory in the Constructors' Championship, after having lost the title to McLaren in 2024 and finishing in P3 in the standings.