Sergio Perez hits back with ‘fun’ claim after Liam Lawson issued ‘not over it’ accusation

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Sergio Perez says he was just having “a bit of fun” in his duel with Liam Lawson in the 2026 F1 Australian Grand Prix, despite the Cadillac ace irritating his Racing Bulls rival.

Perez and Lawson locked horns at Albert Park last weekend after they found themselves in a fight over P16 in the season-opener. Lawson had qualified P8 in Melbourne, while Perez was only P18 on the grid, but the Kiwi’s issues off the line left the pair in a surprise early contest.

Alpine racer Franco Colapinto miraculously avoided Lawson at the start of the Australian GP, with the Argentine’s rapid reactions preventing a horrific crash due to the Racing Bulls driver failing to get away. Lawson also pitted under the VSC on Lap 11, which left him behind Perez.

Lawson eventually sought his chance to overtake Perez on Lap 16 of the Australian GP with a late move into Turn 11. But the Racing Bulls man rubbed against the Cadillac driver, who had earlier caused contact at Turn 3 whilst he fought to retain the place before pitting on Lap 18.

Does Liam Lawson already need to worry about Arvid Lindblad after the Australian Grand Prix?

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Sergio Perez does not see ‘any problem’ with his Australian Grand Prix duel with Liam Lawson

Perez’s antics at Albert Park irked Lawson, who initially claimed the Mexican “sucks” over his radio during the Australian GP. Perez also stated over his radio, “Haha! What happened with this guy”, as he seemed to mock Lawson’s racing as they revived a feud that started in 2024.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Chinese GP, with F1 Sprint and Grand Prix start times

Lawson even claimed after the Australian GP that Perez was still “not over it”, after “fighting me like it’s for the world championship” – referencing the former replacing the latter at Red Bull for the start of 2025. But Perez has now replied, and is not sure why Lawson was irked.

“It was just a racing incident and a bit of fun. That’s all,” Perez said, via Motorsport.com. “I was in a much slower car, so I don’t think there’s any problem competing.”

Having had a week to reflect on the Australian GP, Lawson also stated ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix that he is not focusing on his incident with Perez. Instead, Lawson’s aim in China this weekend is to replicate his qualifying result from Albert Park and fight for those places.

Lawson said: “I was just trying to recover. We lost positions after a bad start and, obviously, he’s in his own race, I don’t know. It’s not something I’m focused on and, ideally, we want to race from the position we qualified in last week. That’s the goal for this weekend.”

Why do Sergio Perez and Liam Lawson have a bitter rivalry?

Lawson and Perez developed a rather bitter feud towards the end of the 2024 season, as the former tried to impress Red Bull and the latter tried to keep a seat. Their biggest flash point came when Lawson showed Perez the middle finger during the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix.

The 2024 Mexico City GP fell at a crucial time in Red Bull’s plans, as they wanted to decide whether Perez deserved to see through his contract for 2025 or whether they needed to put Lawson in their second car. And, like in the 2026 Australian GP, the pair often came to blows.

Red Bull, ultimately, initially opted to promote Lawson from Racing Bulls to replace Perez in 2025 as the latter cost them their defence of the F1 constructors’ championship. Perez only secured 152 of Red Bull’s 589 points in 2024, but Lawson got two point-less rounds in 2025.