Everything Trackside

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The 2025 Red Bull seat partnering Verstappen has been one of the biggest talking points over the past few weeks. With Rumours that Sergio Perez will be at risk from the VCARB drivers of Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson. However, tensions spilled over this weekend with a collision between the two drivers.

During the Mexico City Grand Prix, Sergio Perez and Liam Lawson fought over ninth place after Perez, the fan favorite, fought his way up from 18th on the grid.

Their battle unfolded in the later laps of the race through the Turn 4/5 chicane, with Lawson fiercely defending his position. Perez, attempting to overtake, ended up bouncing over a kerb as he exited Turn 5, resulting in floor damage that derailed his race.

Both Lawson and Checo had their strong choice of words for one another on the radios. With Checo referring to Lawson as “that idiot” and Lawson going as far as to show Perez his middle finger when overtaking him.

Lawson overtaking Perez in his home race and showing him the middle finger 😭 pic.twitter.com/04fJHYG972

— Ferran West (@ferranwest) October 27, 2024

This incident left Perez frustrated with Lawson, who many have speculated could take his Red Bull seat next season.

Checo’s reaction

“He was off the track and just came back like there was no car,” Perez explained. “He could have avoided the incident, but he just came back. Fortunately, I saw him and gave him space, or it could have been a huge crash.”

Perez noted that Lawson had similar run-ins with Fernando Alonso and Franco Colapinto without facing any penalties, leading him to conclude, “None of this is his fault as well.”

However, amid speculation on both drivers future, Perez held the belief that Lawson doesn’t have “the right attitude for Formula 1.” With the Mexican claiming the young driver needs to be “more humble” in his approaches to Formula 1.

Lawson’s reaction

On the other hand, Lawson believes he “tried to give him (Perez) room, but he drove me off the track, then didn’t leave space into Turn 5. It’s unfortunate. That wasn’t my intention.”

Lawson also stated that his gesture to the Red Bull driver was simply a “one of those in-the-moment things.” The Kiwi driver made it evident that this was not the way the he wanted to act in Formula 1, saying “I shouldn’t have acted that way.”

With only 4 races left of the F1 season, and Lawson unconfirmed for an F1 seat in 2025, it will be interesting to see how this battle evolves.

FEATURE IMAGE: REDBULL CONTENT PULL

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