Sergio Perez and Liam Lawson revived their rivalry during the Formula 1 Australian GP last weekend, with incidents both on and off the track. The dispute between the two, which dates back to the fight for the second seat at Red Bull Racing in 2024, heated up again in Melbourne.
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Lawson, now at Racing Bulls, started in P8 but dropped several positions after losing power at the start. Fighting for P16 in the early laps, he chased Perez, currently a Cadillac driver, and attempted aggressive overtakes. On lap 16, in a first attempt at turn 3, Lawson was forced off the track. Later, at turn 11, he managed to pass Perez with an incisive move. The Mexican, jokingly to his race engineer, commented over the radio: “What happened to this guy?”
The atmosphere between the drivers remained tense off the track. Lawson, visibly irritated by Perez’s resistance, told his engineer: “This guy is horrible, brother,” before finishing the race in P13.
In an interview with the press after the race, the New Zealander commented on the dispute: “Two years later, he still hasn’t gotten over it. He’s fighting me like it’s for the world championship and that’s for P16. Obviously, I don’t care much. My race was already lost at that point, so let’s just move on,” Lawson stated.
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Perez, for his part, showed calmness and took the dispute more lightly: “I was just trying to race him. It was a bit of fun, and that’s it. I was in a much slower car, so I think it’s fine,” the Mexican driver concluded.
The Australian GP showed that, even in positions further from the lead, the tension between Perez and Lawson still yields moments of confrontation and provokes some strong reactions off the track.
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