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Demoted Red Bull driver Liam Lawson has opened up about the backing he received from Max Verstappen during one of the most challenging periods of his career.

The New Zealander earned promotion to Red Bull from Racing Bulls in 2025, stepping in for veteran Sergio Perez to line up alongside Verstappen. However, he struggled to make an impact in his opening two races, resulting in his swift demotion back to Racing Bulls, with Yuki Tsunoda brought in as his replacement.

The axe fell after the 24-year-old qualified P18 in Melbourne and propped up the field in both sprint and main qualifying in China.

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He has since bounced back impressively with Racing Bulls, and Lawson has paid tribute to former team-mate Verstappen for standing by him throughout the ordeal, highlighting the Dutchman's true character.

Speaking on The Gypsy Taled podcast, he said: "He's also so, so nice as a person. He's such a nice guy.

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"Through everything that happened last year with Red Bull, he was so good to me, man.

"Before I came into the team, when I first came on the team, he was super nice and any questions, he was just helpful, really helpful, was happy to help.

"And then afterwards as well, he was really, really good to me.

"He was honestly really, really good. And then, quite often he flies home, and I just moved to Monaco last year, and he's like 'Just come with me if you ever need a ride.' So he's a real, real nice guy."

Discussing Lawson's demotion last season, former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has insisted the call was not his to make.

"It wasn't my choice," he said.

"I was always pushed to take drivers from the young driver programme. Helmut [Marko] was a big driver in it."

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