Sergio Perez says Liam Lawson has the wrong attitude for Formula 1 due to the number of incidents he has been involved in, including their collision in the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Lawson was trying to defend from Perez early in the race and was pushed wide at Turn 4, rejoining on the inside of Turn 5 to try and fight back. The pair had light contact as the fight continued for two more corners before Lawson remained ahead, with both drivers trading insults on team radio and the RB driver gesturing at Perez when he overtook him again later in the race.
“I don’t have any relationship with him,” Perez said. “I think the way he has come to Formula 1, I don’t think he has the right attitude for it. He needs to be a bit more humble, you know. When a two-time world champion [Fernando Alonso] was saying things last weekend, he completely ignored him.
“When you come to Formula 1, you’re obviously very hungry and so on, but you have to be respectful off-track and on-track. I don’t think he’s showing the right attitude to show a good pace for himself, because I think he’s a great driver and I hope for him that he can step back and learn from it.”
With the stewards investigating their run-in but not taking any further action, Perez claims Lawson also isn’t getting the right message about his approach to racing.
“It was looking good. We were already up to P10. I had a maneuver into Turn 4, and then he was outside the track and just came straight [back on], like if there was no car. I think he could have avoided the incident but he just went back. Luckily I saw him and I opened up room, otherwise it would have been a massive crash.
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“There was no need; we damaged both of our races. I think it was just a little bit too much, but I don’t think it’s his fault. He’s not getting any penalties as well. He did the same with Fernando, with Franco [Colapinto] in the end. There are no penalties or none of his fault as well.
“I think he’s just racing everyone out of control at the moment.”
Colapinto was the driver who received a penalty for his collision with Lawson, with the stewards deeming the Williams did not leave room on the outside of Turn 2. However, Perez believes Red Bull needs to speak to Lawson about his driving.
“I think you see these youngsters, obviously very hungry for it, and they’re really passionate and it’s great to see,” he started. “They have great talent, but I’m just talking about Lawson in this regard — I think in his two first grands prix he has had too many incidents and I think there will be a point where it can cost him too much, like he did this weekend.
“He has to have the right attitude to say, ‘Look, I’m overdoing it a little bit; I will step back and start again.’ It’s all 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 he might not continue.
“Today it cost Red Bull Racing a lot of points, so I think they should speak to him.”