Liam Lawson has expressed his frustration after an intense battle against Sergio Pérez during the Australian Grand Prix, claiming that the Mexican driver competes with him “as if it were for the world title”. The competition was marked by aggressive maneuvers, which Lawson believes stem from an old rivalry between both drivers.
In the early moments of the race, Lawson experienced problems with his vehicle’s power, dropping from eighth to eighteenth position. During this fall, he nearly collided with Franco Colapinto. After entering the pits with the first virtual safety car, Lawson found himself behind Pérez, who had risen to fourteenth position.
Pérez’s defense was forceful, pushing Lawson off the track at the exit of turn 3, a maneuver that according to driving style regulations was permissible. Nevertheless, Lawson eventually managed to overtake Pérez on the inside of turn 11, despite a slight contact between the vehicles.
Lawson indicates that Pérez’s conduct might be influenced by past incidents and mentions a compression during the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, where Pérez had to defend himself in an intense battle with the Racing Bulls driver while trying to recover from an unfavorable qualifying position.
“Two years later he still can’t forget it, so he fights with me as if it were for the world title,” lamented Lawson. “My race was already over at that point, so we’ll just keep moving forward.”
When asked if he was surprised that the stewards did not penalize the incident, Lawson said: “There was nothing illegal, it was just aggressive. Honestly, I don’t care; we’re fighting for P16.” In contrast, Pérez defended his attitude, claiming it was just “fun” to compete on a difficult day for Cadillac’s debut in Formula 1.
