F1 star apologises for giving center finger to rival ‘making an attempt to wreck his race’ in Mexico

Liam Lawson has apologised to Sergio Perez after cameras spotted him sticking his middle finger up at the Red Bull driver during the F1 Mexico Grand Prix.

The RB and Red Bull drivers would not have been on the best of terms at the end of Sunday’s race with the pair locking horns on multiple occasions during the race. Their skirmishes first began on lap 18 at Turn 4 when battling for position.

Lawson was ahead of Perez in P10 as the home favourite attempted a lunge for the place. However, the Kiwi defended staunchly as the two went wheel-to-wheel through the sharp turns of four and five. But the pair inevitably made heavy contact at Turn 5, seeing Perez sustain significant damage to his floor and sidepod.

A furious Perez slammed Lawson as an “idiot” over the team radio before he was forced to pit following the contact. Perez was never able to compete to move through the field after the damage and was later overtaken comfortably by Lawson later in the race.

Footage from Lawson’s car showed the moment he overtook Perez down the long pit straight at Mexico. As the RB driver pulled out from behind the Mexican and went past, Lawson appeared to stick his middle finger up at Perez as he went past at over 200mph.

Speaking after the race, Lawson addressed the incident where he apologised to Perez for giving him the one-finger salute. “I was obviously in the moment upset, he blocked me for half-a-lap to obviously try and ruin my race,” explained Lawson.

“But honestly, I shouldn’t have done it, and I apologise because it’s not something we should do. It was in the moment, but it’s not an excuse.”

Lawson also explained his side of events earlier in the race that led to contact between the two cars. “I gave him space in Turn 4,” Lawson told Viaplay. “He was coming in super far back and super late, so I knew he would try a lunge.

“I gave him space, he drove me off the track. And then into Turn 5, I’m trying to turn as much as I can, but he’s again, turned in and not given me space. It wasn’t my intention to, obviously have an incident, but I did try and leave space in Turn 4. I would have thought he would leave me space in Turn 5, but obviously not.”

Perez’s damage was substantial enough to see him finish the race in P17 – last of the classified cars. Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon crashed out on the first corner of the opening lap, while Fernando Alonso was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue.

Lawson was only able to come home a place ahead in P16 after he was forced to pit for a new front wing after making contact with Williams driver Franco Colapinto.