Liam Lawson vs Sergio Perez: A rivalry reignited after Red Bull fallout

Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez began something of an unexpected rivalry towards the end of 2024, which appears to have sparked into life again in 2026.

The Racing Bulls driver had words to say about the now-Cadillac driver at the Canadian Grand Prix, which marks the latest point in which the two have butted heads on track.

Liam Lawson vs Sergio Perez: Why did on-track tension begin?

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Lawson rejoined the grid with Racing Bulls in the final portion of 2024, replacing the outgoing Daniel Ricciardo after the Singapore Grand Prix, and with Perez in the ‘senior’ Red Bull seat at the time, the New Zealander said his main mission at the time was to ensure himself a full-time place on the grid in 2025.

With the form of Perez having dipped significantly at Red Bull, however, struggling to get on top of the handling of the team’s 2024 challenger, later in the season it was becoming clearer that Red Bull would perhaps consider a driver change, despite Perez still having a year left to run on his contract in 2025.

With Lawson also in the Red Bull stable and likely wanting to impress at every opportunity, when the two came head-to-head on track – much like when Mercedes junior George Russell and Valtteri Bottas came to blows at Imola in 2021 – there was an additional layer of meaning behind any extra on-track action.

Ultimately, Red Bull did choose to promote Lawson for the 2025 season, with Perez and Red Bull having mutually agreed a split.

On track, though, there still appears to be no love lost between the pair after Perez returned to the grid in 2026, and Lawson returned to Red Bull’s junior squad after just two races as a Red Bull Racing driver.

Let’s remind ourselves of the key moments.

Mexico City 2024: Perez damaged and Lawson flips the bird

Starting towards the back, Perez was searching for a way back through the field at his home race in 2024.

Facing Lawson early on, he tried an ambitious move at an acute angle into the tight left-hander of Turn 4. Lawson kept a narrow line himself, and the pair made contact heading towards the right of Turn 5.

“What the f*** is this idiot doing? Is he okay?” Perez asked of the VCARB driver, with the Mexican later saying it “took the whole side of the car off.”

Lawson was on the other end of contact from Franco Colapinto later in the race, with the then-Williams driver overtaking and causing damage to his front wing on the way.

Informed of Lawson’s damage over team radio, Perez reacted after viewing the moment on the big screen: “I guess it’s the same idiot who crashed again.”

Perez continued his criticism after the race, telling assembled media in Mexico City: “The way he has come into Formula 1, I don’t think he has the right attitude for it.

“When you come to Formula 1, you’re obviously very hungry but you have to be respectful on track and off track and I don’t think he’s showing the right attitude.

“I think he’s a great driver and I hope for him that he can step back and learn from it. He has to think, ‘I’m overdoing it a little bit’ and step back and start again and do the learning you have to do as a youngster because, if you don’t learn from your mistakes, Formula 1 is a brutal world and you might not continue.”

F1 2026: All the important head-to-heads

Head-to-head qualifying records between teammates

Head-to-head race statistics between teammates

Coming back to overtake Perez once again later in the race, though, Lawson gave a one-fingered salute out of his car prompted by their earlier collision, a moment which he came to regret.

“It’s obviously one of those in-the-moment things,” the Kiwi said after the race.

“He spent half the lap blocking me, trying to ruin my race, so I was upset – but it’s not an excuse. I shouldn’t have done it and I apologise for that.

“It’s not in my character and I shouldn’t have done it.”

That would’ve been that, but…

Australia 2026: ‘He’s still not over it’

With Perez having returned to the grid with the all-new Cadillac team, he and Bottas have made no illusions about their new team needing to get up to speed in their first season as fully-fledged constructors.

That does not stop either of them being out-and-out racers, however, and Perez and Lawson again battled on track in Melbourne in the season opener.

Fighting over 16th on Lap 18, Perez put up a strong defence against the Racing Bulls driver into Turn 3, with Lawson running outside track limits and avoiding the gravel at Albert Park.

Lawson eventually made his way by later in the lap, but was less than impressed with how Perez defended, responding on team radio that “that guy f***ing sucks”

Lawson quipped to PlanetF1.com and others after the race: “I mean, two years later, he’s not over it, fighting me like it’s for the world championship, and we’re like, P16.

“I mean, obviously I don’t really care too much. My race was already over at that point.”

Perez, though, saw the bright side, and replied: “No, for me it was just racing. It was a bit of fun racing and that’s really it.

“I was in a much slower car, so I think it’s just fine to race.”

Canada 2026 part 1: Another aggressive defence

With Lawson having started at the back for the Sprint, his mission was to make his way through the pack in the 23 laps available.

Perez, on soft tyres, was having a stronger run for a more competitive Cadillac, and was running in 11th when the Racing Bulls driver came up behind.

After Perez defended into Turn 13, Lawson took to the grass run-off to stay on the road, with the Cadillac driver keeping his place at the time.

With a points finish unlikely, the Racing Bulls driver opted to steer clear.

“Obviously, I was trying to come through the field from the back, and I just have to be careful when racing him,” Lawson said.

“He’s quite aggressive.

“So in the end, he pushed me off, and I just decided not to race him anymore. It’s not really worth it for no points.

“But yeah, seems to be a thing when I race with him.”

Perez was ultimately punished for this manoeuvre, however, being handed a 10-second time penalty for forcing Lawson off track, which dropped him down to 14th.

Canada 2026 part 2: ‘He’s just getting in the way’

In the race, it was a different story as Cadillac could not stay on the lead lap, and when approaching to lap Perez, there appeared to be confusion between the two, with Lawson approaching Perez to lap him.

However, that did not stop the Racing Bulls driver from thinking he was halting his progress in the moment.

Lawson and Perez spoke with their respective race engineers, Alexandre Iliopolous and Carlo Pasetti, which went as follows:

Iliopolous: “Perez is blue flag.”

Lawson: “He’s just getting in the way.”

Pasetti: “You’ve got blue flags for Lawson.”

Perez: “Why he doesn’t go?”

Pasetti: “Yeah, we saw you giving space. Try again, maybe he’ll get it.”

Granted, the most minor of the moments between the pair so far, though Lawson’s caution may perhaps have been informed by wanting to keep his distance the day before.

Additional reporting by Mat Coch

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