Liam Lawson spoke out on Max Verstappen after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Liam Lawson issued his verdict on Max Verstappen following the Hungarian Grand Prix (Image: GETTY)

Liam Lawson issued his verdict on Max Verstappen after the Dutchman worryingly finished behind his former Red Bull team-mate at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Racing Bulls star has enjoyed a fine run of form in recent weeks and has finished among the points at three of the last four races.

Red Bull have fallen behind McLaren over the last year, with Verstappen already appearing to be out of the title race as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris tussle for championship victory. The four-time world champion has only finished on the podium once since mid-May and has fallen 97 points behind Championship leader Piastri in the overall standings. He started in P7 at the Hungaroring circuit on Sunday, but ultimately finished in ninth. Lawson, meanwhile, ended the afternoon in eighth.

“I also saw [during] the first stint of the race, he was very quick at the start,” Lawson said as he assessed Verstappen’s afternoon in Mogyorod.

“He got me on the first lap, and then I think they struggled more on the tyres, so I was kind of hoping it would be the same [later on].

“I knew if I kept him there [behind me] for a few laps, maybe he would start to drop, and I think that’s more or less what happened.”

Liam Lawson (left) and Max Verstappen were team-mates at Red Bull at the start of the season (Image: GETTY)

Lawson was promoted from Red Bull’s junior team to race alongside Verstappen ahead of the 2025 season.

But after a nightmare first two races of the campaign, the New Zealander was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda as Lawson ultimately rejoined Racing Bulls.

Tsunoda, himself, has struggled in the Red Bull car and has managed just 10 points from 12 races since joining the team.

And discussing his own season, Lawson explained: “It’s been a very tough year. I think it’s hard to string together a series of good results in F1, and recently it’s been good for us.

“But obviously we have another whole second half [of the season] to go, and we need to learn from what’s working right now and try and take that forward.”

He added: “To be honest, nothing huge has changed [in recent weeks] other than some small things in the car, and small things to me that have helped get me comfortable in the car.

“I think that’s been really [the case] since Austria that I’ve felt that comfortable in the car, but the speed has always been there since the start of the season, since we did the switch.”