Liam Lawson: "I’m not here to make friends"

Liam Lawson says he apologised to rival Sergio Perez after cameras caught him pulling the finger after passing the Mexican at his home grand prix last weekend. But the Kiwi driver added he’s in Formula One to win rather than make friends.

Racing in his second event since replacing Aussie Daniel Ricciardo in the Racing Bulls seat, Lawson finished a disappointing 16th in Mexico after colliding with Red Bull’s Perez in the middle of the race.

In a battle for 10th spot between two drivers expected to be fighting for the second Red Bull seat next year, neither of them was willing to give up any space.

So palpable was the tension between the two drivers, Lawson was seen giving Perez the finger when he overtook him on the main straight later in the race.

“In the moment things are very heated and obviously I apologise for what I did last week,” Lawson said ahead of this week’s Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.

“It’s not something I should have done, and it’s something I won’t be doing again.

“They know why I’m here and it’s something I’ve said for many years. All of us from F1 are only here for one reason. At the same time as apologising, it’s also what I told them.

“I mean, in every race, there’s so many things you go over, so many things you can do better,” Lawson added.

“Overall, yes, for sure, there’s obviously stuff in there that could have been better, but I’ll take those things and learn from it going into this weekend.

“I’m just focused on having the best possible race each time I get in the car. Honestly, that’s all I’m trying to do at the moment. Maybe I’m aggressive, but I’m here for one reason.

“Obviously my goal is not to go out and make enemies of anybody. I’m not trying to cause any issues or anything like that. At the same time, I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to win – that’s what I’m focused on doing.

“In this situation, we’re fighting very hard for P6 in the constructors’ [standings], and I’m fighting for my future in F1 as well, so that’s what I’m focused on.”

Perez was fuming on lap 18 in Mexico when he came wheel to wheel in the battle for 10th place with Lawson, and the Kiwi emerged victorious, with the Mexican heard telling his race engineer “what the f*** is this idiot doing?”.

Lawson went on to offer an apology to Perez after the race.

This week’s event in Brazil features a sprint race at 3am (NZT) on Sunday followed by the main race on Monday at 6am.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission