Lawson not impressed with Perez: 'Am not here to make friends'
Red Bull Content Pool
F1 News
Liam Lawson is not going to change anything about the way he races. The New Zealander was heavily criticised by Sergio Perez after the Mexico Grand Prix for costing the Austrian team points, but Lawson doesn't think Red Bull wants him to change.
"That attitude towards racing and how I approach races in Formula One won't change," Lawson stated ahead of the race weekend in Brazil. Lawson collided with Sergio Perez in Mexico, damaging the RB20. Perez stated that Lawson should have more respect for experienced drivers.
Perez under pressure from Lawson
"But at the same time there's things in there if I make mistakes I'll always learn from them. And clearly in Mexico I made a mistake and I'll learn from it.
''My goal is just not to make contact with another Red Bull car. That was not my intention at the time either and in hindsight that could have been avoided if I had done the right thing at the time. I'll take advice obviously from everybody I can, and my target is not to go out and make enemies with anybody, that's not the goal obviously, but at the same time I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win."
The spotlight is specifically on the duel because Sergio Perez's position at Red Bull Racing is under pressure. The Mexican has a contract for 2025, but Lawson is knocking on the door at Red Bull. Helmut Marko and Christian Horner have not ruled out making a change after the race in Brazil.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton