Max Verstappen's former mentor has a message for Liam Lawson
Max Verstappen's former mentor, Franz Tost, shared a word of advice for Liam Lawson as he makes his way through his first full-time F1 season. The start of the season has been rather bumpy for the Kiwi as he faced a lack of competitive pace.
Red Bull Racing signed Lawson as Sergio Perez's replacement in the team, driving alongside Verstappen. He was competitive in 2024 when VCARB signed him to replace Daniel Ricciardo mid-season, however, he largely underperformed in Red Bull this year. He did not score any points within the first two race weekends, and the team swapped him with Yuki Tsunoda.
Moving back to Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson hasn't been scoring any points, either. His best finish came in Saudi Arabia earlier when he managed to bring in a P12.
Considering his difficult situation, Franz Tost, former AlphaTauri (VCARB) team principal, advised Lawson to forget about the past and attempt to acquaint himself with the car better and focus on the upcoming races.
"The most important part to enjoy racing, to enjoy driving the car, to build up a really good relationship to the team, and to be positive, motivated, forget the past tense completely, not thinking backwards, to reset everything, start with zero, then he will be there."
Furthermore, Max Verstappen's former mentor claimed that Lawson has better experience of the tracks later in the season, so he could perform better on those.
"Liam knows more racetracks than later during the season. He needs time to get this experience."
As RBR sacked Lawson shortly after the start of the season, many reports claimed that Verstappen wasn't happy with the decision, however, he did not reveal it publicly.
"My reaction was shared with the team": Max Verstappen on RBR sacking Liam Lawson
It was understood that the RB21 wasn't as competitive as its predecessors. Moreover, with the McLarens leading the field, 2025 was assessed to be a difficult season for the Milton Keynes outfit.
However, Verstappen was still able to consistently deliver while his new teammate struggled with the car's handling. Moreover, the former was reportedly disappointed with the team's decision.
Later, talking about his "reaction," Max Verstappen mentioned that he had shared it with the team, and not everything needed to be publicly said.
"My reaction was shared with the team," he said (via The Guardian). "But in general about not only the swap; about everything. We discussed that during last weekend back at the factory. Everything has been shared with the team, how I think about everything. Sometimes it’s not necessary to always share everything in public."
Max Verstappen has managed to put himself in contention for the World Championship. He currently stands third in the Drivers' standings with a narrow gap to the McLarens in the lead.