My family sold their house to fund my F1 career and still don’t own one now, admits Max Verstappen’s new team-mate
MAX VERSTAPPEN’S new team-mate Liam Lawson has revealed his family are still without a home after selling their place to fund his Formula One dream.
Lawson, 23, will race for Red Bull next season after replacing Sergio Perez as world champion Verstappen’s partner.
The New Zealander has come up through the ranks and will get his big break when teams start preparing for the new campaign.
But Lawson admits he has only got to where he is thanks to an amazing sacrifice from his parents.
The youngster has revealed his family SOLD their home while he was making his bones as a karting driver.
The funds were used to help Lawson reach his potential, eventually leading to his big break with Red Bull.
And Lawson is desperate to make his parents proud after admitting they still don’t have a family home to call their own.
He told GQ: “They still don’t own a house because of me.
“I think I complained to my dad for more than a year about my kart. I’d tell him that the engine sucked but he just secretly thought that I sucked.
“Eventually he got sick of me whining and bought two good engines, and we put them on for the first time at this big race.
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“And when we went out, we qualified first. We started racing at the front all the time. That was the definitive moment, when karting became serious.
“It was always serious to me. But for my dad, everything changed that one weekend.”
Lawson has also revealed the moment that F1 legend Fernando Alonso “yelled” at him during their first-ever meeting.
Reliving the bizarre encounter, he added: “It’s funny because I’ve met a lot of guys I looked up to as a kid.
“When you’re younger, they’re your heroes. Now, they’re my competitors.
“I mean, the first time I met Alonso, he yelled at me. Maybe he was having a bad day.”