RB’s Liam Lawson has apologised publicly to Sergio Perez after sending a rude gesture the Red Bull driver’s way during the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Lawson and Perez are allegedly in a battle over the second Red Bull seat in 2025 and that spilled out onto the track in Mexico City.
Perez challenged Lawson going into Turn 4 on Lap 19 and the pair came together, causing significant damage to the Mexican’s Red Bull RB20.
Later on in the race, Lawson breezed past the hampered Perez on the round down to Turn 4 and raised the middle finger at his rival for good measure.
“Yeah, it’s obviously one of those in the moment things, he spent half the lap blocking me trying to ruin my race,” Lawson explained to media including Motorsport Week post-race.
“I was upset, but it’s not an excuse, I shouldn’t have done it and I apologise for that.”
Lawson explained how the frustration stemmed from the duo’s early tangle, adding “I left the space into four, he was coming in very, very late.
“Honestly, I tried to give him space, he drove me off the track and then he didn’t give me space into turn five. It’s unfortunate, it wasn’t my intention, but I didn’t know where to go.”
Speaking to Viaplay, Helmut Marko took a dim view of the whole affair.
“Checo was also very upset with Lawson,” the Austrian said. “So I think we have to sit down and discuss it.
“But we know Lawson is a very tough racer. He’s very difficult to overtake. But it shouldn’t be within, not teammates, but with sister teams. There should be more respect.”
Perez questions Lawson’s ‘respect’
Perez, who finished last of the 17 finishers in a dismal home race, was scathing in his review of Lawson’s antics.
“There was no need, we damaged both of our races,” the Mexican said.
“He needs to be a bit more humble, you know. When [a] two-time World Champion was saying things last weekend, he completely ignored him.
“It’s like when you come to Formula 1, you’re obviously very hungry and so on, but you have to be as well respectful off-track and on-track.”
Lawson had a separate scrap in Mexico, this time with Williams’ Franco Colapinto which triggered a front wing change.
“I tried to give him space in Turn 1 and then I gave him plenty of space in Turn 2, but he obviously carried a lot of speed in,” Lawson explained.
“At that point when I saw the speed he was carrying, I tried to brake and get out of it, but I ran out of space and it was just a clumsy incident.
“I don’t really put it on him, I don’t think it was really his fault, it was just an unnecessary incident.”
READ MORE – What Red Bull told Liam Lawson after his F1 return at US GP
