Damon Hill and Martin Brundle disagree on Liam Lawson incident in Mexico City Grand Prix

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Martin Brundle and Damon Hill have disagreed about one decision the stewards made during the Mexico City Grand Prix concerning Visa Cash App RB driver Liam Lawson.

The 22-year-old enjoyed the second start of his second stint in Formula 1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday. But unlike at the Circuit of the Americas last week, Lawson could not get his VCARB 01 in the points as he tries to seal a full-time seat on the 2025 grid.

Lawson enjoyed a fantastic return to F1 at the United States Grand Prix with a P9 finish with the Faenza outfit, for whom he drove five rounds in 2023. But after qualifying in P12 for the Mexico City GP, the New Zealander found himself fighting at the rear of the field on Sunday.

Liam Lawson escaped a penalty for forcing Sergio Perez off in the Mexican Grand Prix

Lap 18 of the Mexico City GP even saw Lawson fight the driver he may replace at Red Bull in Sergio Perez as the Mexican tried to move into 10th place. But neither driver gave the other an inch, and the race stewards ruled their incident deserved no further action upon review.

Lawson left the inside line open into Turn 4 but kept his car on line to close the apex before Perez would finish a pass. Yet the Red Bull ace still tried to delight his home fans by passing the Kiwi, resulting in Perez skipping over the kerb and forcing Lawson out wide on the exit.

READ MORE: Who is Visa Cash App RB driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

Feeling he was forced off the road, Lawson kept his foot in to claim the inside for T5. But it meant the RB driver had to rub his Red Bull rival and edge Perez wide to rejoin the circuit. Perez even chose to drive into the run-off on exit to avoid any contact and lost the position.

The stewards focused their review on Lawson re-joining the track at Turn 5 and taking Perez wide in the Mexico City GP. But while 1996 F1 champion Hill agreed with the decision of no further action, Sky Sports pundit Brundle felt Lawson was slightly lucky to escape a penalty.

“I think the stewards have been a little bit kind with Lawson to be honest,” Brundle noted on Sky Sports F1 (27/10, 20:42). But Hill felt the stewards made the correct decision, posting on X (formerly Twitter): “Now that Lawson on Perez was good clean hard racing.”

Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez raced hard but fair in the Mexico City GP

Perez will likely agree with Brundle that Lawson was somewhat lucky to escape a penalty for forcing the Red Bull driver wide in the Mexico City GP. But the Visa Cash App RB star will feel like Hill that the stewards came to the correct decision after only leaving the circuit by force.

If Lawson had stayed on the road through Turn 4 as Perez tried to direct his Red Bull down a closing avenue, the stewards would surely have penalised the RB pilot for the incident at T5. But they felt the incident deserved no further action with both drivers fighting hard but fair.

Fair racing was not necessarily the theme of the day at the Mexico City GP as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen received two 10-second time penalty for forcing McLaren rival Lando Norris off. The Dutchman also drew one of those penalties at Turn 4 for driving the Briton off the road.