Did Perez dish out payback? Lawson said he “blocked me on purpose” after clash · RaceFans
Sergio Perez gave a withering verdict of Liam Lawson’s driving following the pair’s clash in the Mexican Grand Prix.
The pair tangled on lap 18 while fighting over 10th place. Perez accused his rival of repeatedly forcing him off-track, though the stewards ruled Lawson defended his place legally.
The moment ended Perez’s chances of recovering a points finish after starting his home race from 18th on the grid. He picked up damage in the incident which slowed his progress over the rest of the afternoon.
The pair crossed paths again later in the race after Lawson made his first pit stop and rejoined behind the Red Bull. This time there was no collision, but Lawson accused Perez of deliberately slowing him down to hold him up.
“Mate he’s blocking me on purpose,” Lawson told his race engineer Pierre Hamelin. Perez’s lap time and telemetry from this point in the race suggest Lawson was right.
Perez couldn’t help but lose time at turn one as he was overtaken by Lance Stroll. But the Aston Martin driver pulled away from him at a surprisingly fast rate.
The Red Bull driver slowed earlier for turn four and Lawson closed in. At the double-right turn six Perez again brought his minimum speed down lower than usual, changing down to second gear instead of his usual third.
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Lawson swarmed over him as they accelerated to turn seven, beginning a sequence of corners in which Lawson had no chance to pass. Perez eased off the throttle here more than the previous lap but ensured he had a good run on the straight to turn 12 to out-run Lawson: This was the only point he gained time compared to the lap before.
Through the stadium section Perez again brought his minimum speed down significantly lower than he did on the preceding and succeeding laps. He completed lap 40 in 1’25.538, almost two seconds slower than his previous lap and 1.2s slower than he would be on the next.
Lawson easily passed Perez using DRS as they began lap 41, taking care to guard against a retaliatory lunge up the inside of turn one. Perez soon headed back to the pits for his second pit stop of the day.
The delay proved costly for Lawson. His tyres were 13 laps newer than Stroll’s and the delay behind Perez cost him the chance to get immediately onto the Aston Martin driver’s tail. That meant he missed the chance to pass Stroll before the leaders caught them and he had to slow down for blue flags.
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The upshot for Lawson was that instead of having the chance to pick off Stroll quickly and chase after Pierre Gasly for the final point, he got dragged into a fight with Franco Colapinto behind, in which he sustained damage which ruined his race. If Perez hoped to give Lawson some payback, he succeeded.
Perez and Lawson’s radio messages
| Lap: 38/71 PER: 1’23.740, LAW: 1’23.736 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perez | Have no grip. The front axle is completely dead. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | You’re not the only one complaining of a lack of front grip. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 39/71 PER: 1’23.586, LAW: 1’26.308 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Let’s look at torque seven, torque seven. Be close to Piastri, he’s just boxing this lap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 40/71 PER: 1’25.538, LAW: 1’43.850 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Stroll passes Perez into turn one Your battery is good. Lawson emerging from the pit lane. | Hamelin | Fighting Stroll, pit exit. Press and hold overtake. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stallard | There’s 31 laps left. We don’t need a gentle introduction. Let’s go. | Hamelin | Lawson emerges behind Stroll and Perez Okay Liam let’s go get some overtakes now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawson | Copy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawson | Lawson follows Perez through the stadium section Mate he’s blocking me on purpose. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 41/71 PER: 1’24.347, LAW: 1’21.503 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Lawson at 0.2. | Hamelin | Copy that. Just use the pace. Let’s get back in the rhythm. Next job Colapinto. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bird | Thoughts on the flap angle? | Hamelin | Okay good job, let’s use the pace. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perez | Yeah, let’s go up. Let’s go up two clicks. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 42/71 PER: 1’23.677, LAW: 1’22.259 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamelin | Colapinto 22.8. Stroll two ahead. One at a time. Let’s get back in there. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2024 Mexican Grand Prix
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