‘He’s just getting in the way’ – Untelevised Liam Lawson team radio after Perez confusion
Liam Lawson has had a few skirmishes with Sergio Perez over the course of his F1 career
Untelevised team radio footage from the Canadian Grand Prix has unearthed the moment Liam Lawson was left frustrated by Sergio Perez “getting in the way” as he struggled to lap the Cadillac driver.
Lawson and Perez are known to have an uneasy relationship stretching back to the closing weeks of the 2024 season.
Liam Lawson: Sergio Perez ‘just getting in the way’
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Lawson was spotted waving his middle finger at Perez during that year’s Mexican Grand Prix as the New Zealander emerged as the leading contender to replace Perez at Red Bull for 2025.
Red Bull confirmed the swap at the end of that season with Perez forced to sit out the entire 2025 campaign.
Lawson lasted just two races at Red Bull before being replaced by Yuki Tsunoda for the rest of 2025, the year Perez secured a return to F1 with the new Cadillac team for F1 2026.
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As reported by PlanetF1.com in March, Lawson and Perez were reunited at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, where the New Zealander remarked that “this guy f**king sucks” after a heated battle between the pair.
Untelevised footage from the Canadian Grand Prix has revealed the latest minor flashpoint between Lawson and Perez in Montreal.
Lawson equalled his best result of the F1 2026 season in Canada, rising from 12th on the grid to an impressive seventh.
The Racing Bulls driver was unimpressed by Perez “getting in the way” as he came up to lap the Cadillac driver, who later retired after suffering a spectacular suspension failure.
The exchange on Lap 32 between Lawson and Perez and their respective race engineers, Alexandre Iliopolous and Carlo Pasetti, 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.”
Perez remained ahead of Lawson for a little longer, with trackside boards flashing green following an incident further ahead.
An increasingly irate Lawson questioned why Perez and the car ahead were not receiving blue flags at that stage.
Lawson: “Mate, what are they doing?”
Iliopolous: “Both cars in front blue flag.”
Lawson: “They are literally not getting any blue flags.”
Moments later, the pair passed a trackside board clearly showing Perez’s race number 11, with the Cadillac slowing to let Lawson pass on the approach to the Turn 10 hairpin.
Perez also incurred the wrath of Canadian Grand Prix winner Kimi Antonelli on Lap 42, with the Mercedes driver incensed after the Cadillac failed to let him through on the approach to the Turns 8/9 chicane.
Antonelli was heard commenting: “What is this guy doing, man?”
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