Liam Lawson and Sergio Pérez clashed again during the Australian GP. The mutual relationship had already cooled after a heated battle during the 2024 Mexican GP. In Melbourne, it was once again hard against hard, much to Lawson’s irritation. He stated afterwards that his Cadillac rival fought as if the world championship were at stake. In reality, they were competing for sixteenth place.
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During the Australian GP, a fierce battle for P16 broke out. Pérez defended tooth and nail against Lawson, nearly forcing the Racing Bulls driver off the track in turn three. In turn eleven, the New Zealander still managed to overtake the Mexican; with a daring maneuver, he left the Cadillac behind. Over the team radio, he immediately expressed his frustrations about Pérez’s driving style: “That guy is really f*cking useless,” said an exasperated Lawson. Checo in turn shouted: “Haha, what is his problem?”
‘It was just fun racing’
After the race, Lawson was naturally asked about the incident. “It’s two years later and he (Pérez, ed.) is still not over it,” he sneered. “He fights with me as if it’s for the world championship, while we are in sixteenth place. Honestly, I don’t care that much. My race was already over at that point anyway, so whatever. He didn’t do anything illegal, it was just aggressive.” Due to a lack of power at the start, Lawson immediately fell far behind. “I was just stuck there without power,” he explained. “After a few seconds I did move forward, but then I got wheelspin. I don’t know what happened; we didn’t see this during testing.”
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Pérez wanted to downplay the incident afterwards. “It was just fun racing,” the 36-year-old Mexican reacted dryly. “I was in a much slower car, so for me it was just a bit of entertainment.” The feud with Lawson began during the 2024 Mexican GP. Pérez, then still employed by Red Bull, wanted to protect his seat against the Racing Bulls junior at all costs. It led to an intense fight, after which Lawson raised his middle finger to Checo. He later apologized for that.
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