Helmut Marko shares unexpected positive from Liam Lawson’s Mexico City Grand Prix battle with Sergio Perez

Visa Cash App RB driver Liam Lawson is running out of time to prove that he’s the right man to race alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull next season.

The Mexico City Grand Prix provided the perfect opportunity for Liam Lawson to come out on top in the three-way battle with Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda for Red Bull’s second seat.

After a fantastic second debut at the United States Grand Prix where Lawson scored points and Tsunoda didn’t, while only finishing 11 seconds behind Perez, the young Kiwi finally had the benefit of three practice sessions to get to grips with his RB.

However, Tsunoda was by far the quickest driver of the trio going into qualifying before Perez was eliminated in Q1 for the fifth time this season.

All the credit Tsunoda had earned was lost in Q2 when his crash prevented either RB driver from advancing to the final session of the day.

Sunday’s race is when the drama reached its crescendo and speaking after the race, via Motorsport, Helmut Marko delivered his verdict on the 22-year-old’s performance.

What Liam Lawson did that impressed Helmut Marko at the Mexico City Grand Prix

Lawson started alongside Tsunoda in Mexico, but watched as his teammate’s race ended after a crash with Alex Albon before the first corner.

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Perez made up plenty of places on the first lap, aided by a false start that earned him one of Red Bull’s many penalties.

F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Lawson and Perez ended up clashing during the race, with the Kiwi driver doing everything he could to get one over the hometown hero.

Lawson’s behaviour towards Perez down the main straight prompted an apology for the young driver, but it was the damage he did in their wheel-to-wheel battle that left the Mexican driver questioning his newest rival.

Perez accused Lawson of not having the ‘right attitude’ in his post-race media duties and suggested he needed to learn from their tussle.

Marko wasn’t overly impressed and said: “It’s clear, there was a totally unnecessary collision with Lawson. We should have managed the situation in a different way.”

However, when asked if he saw Lawson’s aggression in his battle with Perez as a positive, Marko continued: “If it had been with another driver, yes. But not with someone from the sister team.”

Damon Hill and Martin Brundle disagree on Liam Lawson penalty verdict

Lawson’s incident with Perez was investigated by the stewards and despite Perez’s frustration, no action was taken.

On lap 18, Lawson took a tight line going into turn four, but left enough space for Perez as dived down the inside to try and improve his position in the race.

He was carrying too much speed and as the drivers went side-by-side, Lawson was forced off the track.

The 22-year-old wasn’t going to give up that easily and took turn five cleanly, but on this occasion, it was Perez who was forced off the track and picked up significant damage as a result.

Damon Hill and Martin Brundle couldn’t agree on whether Lawson deserved a penalty, but he escaped punishment on this occasion.

Perez can’t be too upset, however, after getting away with a very similar move on Lance Stroll during the race.