Liam Lawson has apologised after giving Sergio Perez the middle finger during their Mexican Grand Prix battle, as rumours swirl over their futures in the sport.
Starting near the back of the grid, Perez closed on Lawson on lap 18 and attempted to pass, but Lawson shut the door on the move and they made contact, causing Perez’s Red Bull damage.
Later, Lawson – who drives for sister team RB and has been tipped to replace Perez in the second Red Bull seat – fell behind and spent a lengthy period trying to get past Perez. When he eventually did, he swore at the Mexican driver.
Both drivers missed out on points as Lawson finished 16th and Perez finished 17th, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won the race.
“It’s obviously one of those in-the-moment things that you know he spent half the lap blocking me, trying to ruin my race, so I was upset,” Lawson said. “But it’s not an excuse. I shouldn’t have done it, and I have now apologised for that.”
Explaining their clash earlier in the race – after which Perez told team radio “What the f*** is this idiot doing?” – Lawson insisted he was the innocent party.
“The incident with Checo, I left him space into Four. He was coming in very, very late, and honestly, I tried to give him space,” he said. “He drove me off the track, and then he didn’t give me space since Turn Five. So, you know, it’s just unfortunate. It wasn’t my intention but I don’t know where he where he wanted me to go.”
Perez, who had hoped to bounce back on his home track from a season he has labelled “terrible”, was critical of Lawson’s attitude as the New Zealander had similar incidents with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at last week’s US Grand Prix and Williams’ Franco Colapinto later in the Mexican race.
“I had a great start, despite the penalty for lining up wrong, we had everything to go forward, unfortunately there was the incident with Lawson and that hurt us a lot,” Perez said.
“He was outside the track and just came straight like there was no car, I think he could have avoided the incident. Luckily I saw him and I opened room. Otherwise it would have been a massive crash.
“There was no need. We damaged both of our races. He did the same with Fernando, with Franco in the end and there are no penalties, so none of his fault as well. I think the way he has come to Formula One, I don’t think he has the right attitude for it. He needs to be a bit more humble.”
Lawson, 22, has replaced dropped Australian Daniel Ricciardo for the remainder of the season at RB, and drew praise from Red Bull boss Christian Horner last week when he raced from 19th to ninth.
Perez’s poor performances at Red Bull have left open the possibility triple champion Max Verstappen could have a new teammate next season, with Lawson seen as the leading contender.
Perez recognised Lawson was hungry, passionate and very talented but was also critical of the youngster.
“Lawson has had too many incidents...There will be a point where it can cost him too much,” he said. “I just think that he has to have the right attitude to say, look, probably I’m overdoing it a little bit.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
