Sergio Perez says that his fellow Red Bull driver Liam Lawson is “not showing the right attitude” after the pair clashed in the Formula 1 Mexico City GP.
Perez started from a lowly 18th on the grid, and his weekend was hampered further when he received a five-second penalty for being in front of his grid box at the start.
He was making progress through the field when he tangled with the RB of Lawson, who is widely tipped to replace him at Red Bull Racing at some stage.
Perez’s car suffered floor and sidepod damage in the incident, and he eventually finished 17th, while Lawson was 16th after a later incident with Franco Colapinto.
A frustrated Perez pointed out that Lawson had also upset Fernando Alonso in the Austin sprint a week earlier.
“It was looking good,” said Perez when asked about the incident. “We were already up to P10, and then he was outside the track and just came straight like if there was no car. I think he could have avoided the incident, but he just went back.
“Luckily, I saw him, and I opened the room. Otherwise it would have been a massive crash. There was no need, he damaged both of our races.
“I think it was just a little bit too much, but I don’t think his fault. He’s not getting any penalties as well. He did the same with Fernando, and with Franco in the end. There are no penalties, so none of his fault as well.”
Perez didn’t hold back when asked further about Lawson.
“I don’t have any relationship with him,” he said. “I think the way he has come to F1, I don’t think has the right attitude for it.
“He needs to be a bit more humble, when a two-time world champion was saying things last weekend, he completely ignored him.
“It’s like when you come to F1, you’re obviously very, very hungry and so on. But you have to be as well respectful off-track and on-track.
“I don’t think he’s showing the right attitude to show a good case for himself, because I think he’s a great driver, and I hope for him that he can step back and learn from this.”
Expanding on the theme he added: “You see these youngsters, obviously very hungry for it, and they’re really passionate, and it’s great to see. They have a great talent, but I’m just talking about Lawson in this regard.
“In his two first Grands Prix he has had too many incidents. And I think there will be a point where, where it can cost him too much, like he did this weekend.
“And are you seeing that he has to have the right attitude to say, I’m overdoing it a little bit, I will step back, and start again.
“And it’s all the learning you have to do as a youngster, because if you don’t learn from your mistakes, F1 is a brutal world out there, and he might not continue.”
Adam Cooper F1 