The 22-year-old Red Bull driver was warned growing up in New Zealand that his dreams of making it in Formula 1 were unlikely to bear fruit, but his parents believed in him and gave up their home to fund his carting hobby, and his sisters had to quit competitive dance.

He told The Times newspaper: “My parents gave up everything for me.

"They sold our house and we started renting. My sisters were national and international Irish dancers. They would compete in New Zealand, Australia and had plans of competing in America, but had to stop because my karting was too expensive.

“In New Zealand it’s quite sad — and I hope I can change it — there’s this belief that it’s impossible to get to Formula 1. I was told by so many people that you can’t do it and that you might as well look at other categories.”

Liam was just seven years old when he began Kart racing competitively, but things got off to a slow start - and while he blamed his vehicle, his dad just thought he was a "s***" driver, until an upgrade proved his talents.

He said: “When I started go-kart racing, my first 12 months, I finished last. Every single race. It wasn’t even close. The field would pull away from me and I would be driving at the back by myself. As a six or seven-year-old kid, I would say, ‘Dad, my kart sucks.’ I didn’t know this until recently, he would tell me, ‘I know, it sucks,’ but he thought I was s***!

“After about 12 months of me nagging my dad for a better kart and a better engine, he invested in two well-known engines — I remember bolting this engine on for qualifying for the first time.

"Looking at my dad and him looking at me like, ‘Well, this is the moment where we find out whether I’m s*** or not.’ I went out and I qualified pole. We were like, ‘Holy s***.’ That was the moment where karting became really serious.”