Sergio Perez was unimpressed with Liam Lawson’s driving when the pair crossed swords during the Mexican Grand Prix.
The stewards had no complaints, however, but they did get involved in another incident Lawson was involved with. They handed Franco Colapinto a 10-second post-race penalty for his tangle with the RB driver.Lawson and Perez’s tangle over 10th place began when the Red Bull driver lunged to the inside of his rival at turn four on lap 18. Perez made the corner but ran Lawson wide at the exit.
Rather than take to the grass, Lawson stuck to the inside of Perez into the following right-hander and the two touched at the apex while side-by-side, resulting in sidepod damage on the right side of the Red Bull.
The stewards chose not to take any action against either driver for the incident, later explaining that Perez’s move into turn four had been “late” and that Lawson had to go off track to avoid a collision. They determined that it was a “racing incident”, but Perez felt Lawson had been too aggressive in his defence.
“I think we ruined both [our] races,” Perez said. “I was ahead, there was no need to come together at that point. It was lap 11 [18] of the race, [it was] just compromising our race, both of us. I don’t think it was a very clever move.”
Lawson says he spoke with Perez – who had branded him an “idiot” on multiple team radio messages during the race – after the chequered flag to discuss the clash.
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“He was obviously upset,” Lawson said. “I don’t know where he wanted me to go.
“I gave him space in [turn] four, he came in super-late. At that point of the race, we’d just got some clean air and honestly our pace wasn’t bad. So I’m not just going to get out of his way. I gave him space in four, he drove me off, and then he didn’t give me space in five. I was on the lock-stop trying to turn the corner and avoid a collision. But I had nowhere to go. So it’s frustrating. It wasn’t my intention.”
Later in the race Lawson tangled with Colapinto while battling over 12th place. The pair made contact at turn two after when Colapinto attempted to pass Lawson around the outside of the first corner.
The pair ran side-by-side through turn one, with the front axles of their cars virtually level. Colapinto ran wide and outside of the white lines at the exit of turn one, which put him to the inside of Lawson into turn two. As they attempted to navigate the left hander, Colapinto ran deep while Lawson clipped the Williams as he turned into the corner, causing front wing damage.
Lawson had to pit for a new front wing, finishing down in 16th place. Colapinto went onto finish 12th, but was given a ten second penalty after taking the chequered flag. However, this did not affect his position in the final classification.
After analysing the incident, the stewards determined that he had been the one to ultimately hit Lawson in the incident.
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“He [Colapinto] was not quite fully alongside at the apex and through the exit and was thus not ‘entitled’ to racing room at the exit,” the stewards explained.
“Lawson defended aggressively through to the exit of turn 1, but stayed on the track and left just enough room for Colapinto to remain on track from the exit of turn one, through to turn two, although ultimately Colapinto did leave the track.
“Both cars were on a compromised line approaching turn two, Colapinto more so. Lawson gave Colapinto room at the apex of turn two. Colapinto stayed on power which ultimately forced him wide at the exit of turn two and caused him to collide with Lawson’s front wing.
“While the stewards consider most of this sequence to be fair racing, the fact that Colapinto forced the issue when he was not able to complete the pass through either corner meant that he was predominantly at fault for the collision.”
Colapinto was handed two penalty points by the stewards for the incident, his first since joining the grid from the Italian Grand Prix in September. The Williams rookie said he “does not fully agree” with his penalty, likening it to the controversial incident between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in the United States Grand Prix.
“I think it’s something similar to what happened with Lando and Max in Austin,” Colapinto told the official F1 channel.
“It’s one of those that the one that is inside pushes you off the track. I was, I think, slightly ahead at the apex and and then he braked on the dust and ran wide and pushed me off and then he broke his front wing alone.”
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2024 Mexican Grand Prix
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Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
28th October 2024, 3:34
Having looked at the video I think Liam should have called it quits on this particular battle before there was a collision. He and Sergio did collide, which meant his car was damaged, consequently it affected the aerodynamics and resulted in a poor race result (16th). Liam needs to show he is better than Daniel Ricciardo (and Nyck de Vries), and results like this one don’t do that.
That collision also affected Sergio’s race, and Liam needs to stay out of Sergio’s argument with the Red Bull management.
Kevin Turabian
28th October 2024, 5:35
100% agree, Lawson’s race was never with Sergio. It was an optimistic move from Checo but there was no point in Lawson racing him as hard as he did. Ricciardo would have brought home points today in either the Red Bull or the VCarb.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
28th October 2024, 23:29
Wasn’t it though? Perez was where he was for a reason. Nobody says you have to let anyone passed just because they are in a theoretically faster car.
Jere (@jerejj)
28th October 2024, 6:32
Nothing wrong with his driving.
He raced hard simply to give Red Bull as much justification as possible for a 2025 promotion.
a (@aaaa)
28th October 2024, 22:32
Agree, and this is why he held up one finger to indicate that he wanted to be their #1 driver one day.
RandomMallard
28th October 2024, 9:06
Dawson was running pretty well after the collision with Perez – he was 13th, second highest driver on his strategy, and fighting for 12th. What really cost him was the collision with Colapinto, which Colapinto has been penalised for.
bosyber (@bosyber)
28th October 2024, 10:04
Agree RandomMallard, I do see some sense in Lawson letting Perez go bc. the Red Bull group is so often mostly concerned with how well you are doing around and compared to others in their stable (which is where I also agree with @jerejj: Lawson does need to show he’s mastered Perez), not hindering the main team is an important think he probably needs to consider, but ultimately he also was fairly racing and minding his own, pretty impressive race and it did only go wrong when Colapinto fought to feisty, maybe knowing his teammate wasn’t there and wanting to show his worth to his own team to keep the momentum of a strong start to his career.
Jere (@jerejj)
28th October 2024, 6:32
Checo definitely was fully responsible & he should’ve immediately accepted that instead of calling him out, not to mention he even forced Stroll off at the same corner a little later.
Colapinto should’ve realized to back off since he was only going to gain an advantage via going fully over the white line at T1 exit & even more, he unnecessarily let his car slide towards Lawson’s front wing at T2, so a fully justified penalty.
His very first questionable & dirty piece of racing in F1, so forgiving is okay as long as this stays a one-off thing for him.
stjs16 (@stjs16)
28th October 2024, 8:11
Oh dear Checo.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
28th October 2024, 8:46
I understand the 10 seconds but two penalty points for that makes no sense.
Jere (@jerejj)
28th October 2024, 9:09
How? He deliberately (or at least half-deliberately) caused front wing damage despite being given plenty of space for two car widths.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
28th October 2024, 9:39
Deliberately is a stretch. The 10 seconds penalty is enough.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th October 2024, 7:15
Definitely zero intention of avoiding contact at T2 even though he could’ve simply made a full steering lock turn had he wanted to.
PeterG
28th October 2024, 13:34
Liam was clearly more at fault as he not only moved in the braking zone but he also forced Sergio over the inside kerb which is clearly not leaving a car width of space.
Liam moved to defend which is fine but he left a gap so Sergio went for it & then Liam started to move again in the braking zone & despite Sergio been more than half a car alongside him Liam still kept moving & Sergio ended up having to drive over the inside kerb to avoid contact.
From the Sky clip I saw on youtube Brundle said he felt it was 60/40 Liam’s fault because of the move in the brake zone & the way he crowded Sergio over the inside.
The helicopter shot shows all this perfectly clearly.
Also Liam seems a bit immature throwing up hand gestures when he was passing Sergio later in the race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHN6OLs5vO0
Tristan (@skipgamer)
28th October 2024, 23:33
Sergio went for it too late. More than half a car alongside is not infront and deserving of a car width of space, as seems to be the current interpretation of the rules.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th October 2024, 7:16
PeterG Wrong, Checo was definitely fully at fault for first forcing off & subsequently not giving any space for him to rejoin the track without contact & therefore, the bird-flipping was fully justified.
JSMACK
29th October 2024, 15:53
The incident wouldn’t have occurred if Perez knew how to start….