Max Verstappen breaks silence after Red Bull fire Liam Lawson

Max Verstappen has finally addressed Liam Lawson being fired by Red Bull and has come out in support of the Kiwi. The second seat within the team has always been contentious ever since Daniel Ricciardo left in 2018. First it was Pierre Gasly who was dropped after half a season.

Then we had Alex Albon, who stuck around for 18 months, and recently it was Sergio Perez who was dropped after a 4-year stint for being unable to keep up with Max Verstappen. Liam Lawson was the Mexican's replacement at Red Bull for 2025, but in a shocking turn of events, the Kiwi has been dropped after just two races.

The start of Liam Lawson's stint was not great, as in both Australia and China he couldn't escape Q1 elimination. Not only that, the Kiwi was unable to show much improvement, and according to Christian Horner, Red Bull engineers didn't have much faith in him either.

Max Verstappen was admittedly not happy with the call made, as was evident by the fact that he liked the Instagram post by Giedo van der Garde criticizing Red Bull. Talking to media, including RacingNews365, Verstappen backed his former teammate as he pointed out the conditions in which Lawson has had to perform until now. He said:

"Liam had driven eleven races in different periods. It is tough for rookies in Formula 1 these days with the current calendar. They have not driven on most circuits and China, for example, was a sprint weekend. Those scenarios do not help. From my side, it is very difficult to say how difficult or how good the car is to drive, because I have never driven for another team. I adapt as best I can."

Max Verstappen's reaction privy to Red Bull

When questioned about what his views were about Liam Lawson being fired after just two races with Red Bull, the Dutch driver said that he'd already had a discussion with the team about it and they know how he feels. He said,

"My reaction is known within the team. That was not only about the change, but also about other things. We already discussed that during the last race weekend and in the factory."

He further added that the key area where Red Bull needed to focus on was the car. If the car is good enough, the second driver's performance also improves. He said,

"As I said, everything is shared with the team, also what I think about it. Sometimes it is not necessary to always share and say everything in public. Our main problem is that the car is not good enough. I think everyone in the team knows that and that is also what I focus on. As soon as the car is more competitive and better to drive, the second car is also closer."

Max Verstappen goes into Japan with a deficit of 8 points to Lando Norris. The driver would be hoping for a better show for the team but the track is expected to suit McLaren again which could make things tough for the 4-time champion.