Liam Lawson: “I am not here to make friends”

Liam Lawson stated that his way of racing in Formula 1 will not change, even after his collision with Sergio Pérez during the Mexican Grand Prix. The young New Zealand driver, recently promoted within Racing Bulls (RB), is convinced that the team’s leaders will not ask him to change his approach.

For his second race with RB, Lawson apologized to Perez after a fierce battle on the track. On the 19th lap, while trying to overtake the Mexican in turn 4, he was pushed wide and therefore decided to maintain his acceleration, which led to contact in the next corner. This collision heavily damaged Perez’s car, relegating him to the last place at the end of the race.

Although Pérez managed to hold his position for a while, Lawson eventually overtook him and in a moment of frustration, he even showed his middle finger to his opponent, a gesture that went viral on social media.

Despite this incident, Lawson does not intend to give up his racing style: “My attitude towards racing and the way I approach Formula 1 races will not change, I will always be like this. If I make mistakes, I will always learn from them, and clearly, in Mexico, I made a mistake, and I will learn from it.

After the race, he exchanged a few words with Pérez, although both men quickly left the circuit: « I obviously apologize for what I did after the incident. But as for our battle on the track, it was a racing incident ».

Lawson is determined to learn from this experience while keeping his competitive spirit: « I will learn from my mistakes. My goal is not to make enemies, but I am not here to make friends, I am here to win. »

Questioned about a possible discussion with Marko and Horner after the incident, he replied: « I don’t think they want me to race differently. But the goal is to avoid contact with another Red Bull. It was not my intention, and maybe I could have avoided it. »