Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez were involved in a heated battle in the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, leading the Kiwi to joke that the Mexican is “not over” their previous rivalry.
The Kiwi and the Mexican had been at odds before at the Perez’s home race in Mexico in 2024, when the pair came together, causing him to suffer damage that he carried to the end of the race.
Lawson responded by producing his middle finger when overtaking Perez on the straight, an action that he later apologised for.
The duel had significant additional connotations, as Perez was under fire from Red Bull for a drop in results, with Lawson, having replaced Daniel Ricciardo at Racing Bulls, highly-speculated to be replacing him.
The best part of 18 months later, and the pair reignited their testy on-track relationship at the season-opener in Melbourne.
With Lawson struggling to get away off his eighth place off the start line, his race was immediately compromised, missing out on points as a result.
Forced to race with cars further down the order, he came up against Perez, and their tussle resulted in Lawson telling his team over radio: “This guy f***ing sucks.”
After finishing 13th, Lawson told media including Motorsport Week, when pushed on the incident, that he was happy to “move on” from the feud.
“Two years later he’s not over it,” he joked. “He’s fighting me like it’s for the world championship and we’re P16 – so, yeah.
“Obviously I don’t really care too much. My race was already over at that point, so we’ll just move on from it.”
Sergio Perez dismisses Liam Lawson battle – ‘it was a bit of fun racing’
Perez, along with teammate Valtteri Bottas, had the honour of being the first F1 drivers for Cadillac in its debut Grand Prix.
Bottas’ race ended early, but Perez managed to make it to the flag, coming home 16th, three laps down, two behind Lawson.
When asked for his take on their incident, Perez was equally as nonplussed, saying he was “just trying to race him,” adding: “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.”
READ MORE – F1 2026 Australian Grand Prix – Race Results
![Franco Colpinto [front] avoided Liam Lawson [back] at the start of the Australian GP](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Franco-Colapinto-F1-Aus-GP-350x250.webp)
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