Untelevised team radio footage from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has revealed the moment Liam Lawson claimed Sergio Perez’s defensive tactics were “so dangerous.”
Lawson and Perez finished 12th and 14th respectively in Baku as Mercedes driver George Russell claimed his third victory of the F1 2026 season.
Liam Lawson team radio emerges after Sergio Perez defence
Lawson’s race suffered a setback when he was tagged by Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad following a safety car restart, losing a number of positions.
The New Zealander’s recovery saw him pass Sergio Perez, who defended aggressively on the approach to Turn 4.
Untelevised footage, which cannot be reproduced here due to broadcast rights restrictions, shows Lawson pulling to the left of Perez’s car on the straight.
As Lawson starts to pull alongside the Cadillac, Perez’s car suddenly jinks to the left, forcing Lawson to adjust his own line.
Lawson is heard saying over team radio in the aftermath of the incident: “Mate, this guy’s defending is so dangerous.”
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Lawson and Perez are known to have an uneasy relationship stretching back to the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, when Lawson waved his middle finger at the then-Red Bull driver during the race.
Perez went on to lose his Red Bull seat at the end of that season, with Lawson confirmed as his replacement.
Lawson himself was dropped by Red Bull after two races of the 2025 campaign, with the New Zealander demoted back to the Racing Bulls team as Yuki Tsunoda stepped up as Max Verstappen’s teammate.
With Tsunoda also struggling alongside Verstappen, Perez aimed a dig at his successors shortly after his return to the grid was announced last August.
Referring to Lawson and Tsunoda’s performances at Red Bull, he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: “When you see the amount of points they’ve scored, it’s [something] like five points in the entire season, so I’ve got nothing to prove in that regard.”
Lawson and Perez were reunited on track at the F1 2026 season opener in Australia, where the Mexican’s aggressive defence left his rival unimpressed.
Lawson was heard saying over team radio in Melbourne: “That guy f**king sucks, bro.”
In a transmission to his Cadillac team, Perez laughed: “What happened to this guy?”
The F1 2026 season will continue at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, which is being held at the former Malaysian Grand Prix circuit in Sepang.
It marks F1’s first visit to Malaysia since the 2017 season, when Verstappen claimed victory.
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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