Max Verstappen has doubled down on his decision to “like” an Instagram post accusing Red Bull of “bullying” Liam Lawson.
The four-time world champion reacted to the post after his team dropped the 23-year-old Lawson to Racing Bulls after just two races of the season.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen said his interaction with the post had been no accident.
“I liked the comment, the text, so I guess that speaks for itself, right? It was not a mistake,” the Dutchman said.
Verstappen was rumoured to be unhappy about the decision to switch rookie Lawson with Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda even before internet sleuths picked up the fact that he had “liked” a post from former Formula One driver Giedo van der Garde.
Van der Garde, who drove for the Caterham F1 team in 2013, said he was “tired” of the narrative that F1 was the toughest sport on earth in terms of delivering under pressure.
“Yes, you gotta perform. Yes, the pressure is insane. But in my opinion this comes closer to bullying or a panic move than actual high athlete achievements,” Van der Garde wrote. “They [Red Bull] made a decision – fully aware – gave Liam two races only to crush his spirit.”
Lawson admitted this week that he had been “shocked” by the speed of his demotion, and had “not seen it coming”.
Verstappen, who trails Lando Norris by eight points in the drivers’ championship heading into the Suzuka race weekend, refused to elaborate on his opinion on the swap to the media.
“My reaction was shared with the team but in general, about not only the swap, but about everything,” he said. “We discussed that already during last weekend and 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. I think it’s better”
Verstappen was more forthcoming about Red Bull’s 2025 car, the RB21, about which so much has been written in the last week.
Lawson’s inability to adapt quickly enough to a car which has been developed according to Verstappen’s preferences – with a strong front end, meaning the rear can be unstable – has been mooted as one of the major factors in the New Zealander’s demotion.
Verstappen said he was unsure how RB21 felt to anyone else, or indeed compared with any other car, since the Red Bull is all he has ever known. But he admitted the car was “not where we want it to be”.
The Dutch driver has managed to maximise his results so far, finishing second in Melbourne, third in the Shanghai sprint and fourth in the main race, but he said the car needed to be “more competitive and more drivable”.
“From my side, it’s very difficult to say how difficult or how well the car drives because I’ve not really driven any other car in my career or been with another team. I just adapt to the situation that I’m in the best that I can.
“[But] from what I see out there, it [the Red Bull] is a little bit more nervous, a little bit more, I would say, unstable in different corner phases than maybe some other of my team-mates ...
