Red Bull boss Christian Horner called Liam Lawson to his office after a fiery clash with Sergio Perez. The VCARB star was seen giving the middle finger to the Mexican during Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Lawson was involved in a row with Fernando Alonso during last week’s US Grand Prix, the New Zealander’s first race since replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull’s sister team. He angered Perez in Mexico before a collision with Franco Colapinto late on.
Perez has questioned the 22-year-old’s attitude and Lawson now seems to have caught the wrath of Horner. In a video shared on social media, the rookie driver was seen waiting inside the team’s hospitality suite while the Red Bull team principal conducted media duties before they were led away together.
ESPN Mexico report that Horner was ‘not happy’ with Lawson. It is a vastly contrasting situation for the VCARB star, who was praised by Red Bull chiefs after rising from 19th to ninth in Austin last week.
Perez was angered by Lawson during the race. The youngster has been tipped as a potential successor to the struggling veteran at Red Bull next season. They clashed in the early stages of the event, with Perez’s sidepod suffering damage after Lawson not allowing him to pass.
“I had a great start, despite the penalty for lining up wrong, we had everything to go forward, unfortunately there was the incident with Lawson and that hurt us a lot,” Perez, who was given a five-second penalty for a false start, told reporters.
“He was outside the track and just came straight like there was no car, I think he could have avoided the incident. Luckily I saw him and I opened room. Otherwise it would have been a massive crash.
“There was no need. We damaged both of our races. He did the same with Fernando [Alonso last week], with Franco [Colapinto] in the end and there are no penalties, so none of his fault as well.
“I think the way he has come to Formula One, I don’t think he has the right attitude for it. He needs to be a bit more humble.”
Perez continued: “Lawson has had too many incidents.There will be a point where it can cost him too much. I just think that he has to have the right attitude to say, look, probably I’m overdoing it a little bit.”
Clips of Lawson raising his middle finger to Perez while overtaking went viral on social media during the race. It remains to be seen whether he wins a Red Bull seat for next season.
