“I’m Trying Hard Not to Smile”: Liam Lawson on Camera Panning Onto Him Amidst Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo’s Struggles

Before the 2024 Formula 1 season began, it was more-or-less accepted that Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez were vying for the second Red Bull seat in 2025. Now that the season is winding up, underwhelming performances have relegated both the drivers into the background. Enter Liam Lawson.

And, understandably, all the glare, attention, and pressure in equal measure, is on Lawson.

It was always clear that Red Bull won’t hesitate to switch Ricciardo with Lawson if the Aussie didn’t show enough promise this season. The switch happened after the Singapore Grand Prix.

Perez, meanwhile, was struggling with his own demons. The horrible showing at his home GP in Mexico seems to have sealed his fate. Lawson is now the prime candidate to take the second Red Bull seat in 2025 alongside Max Verstappen.

The New Zealander would surely be feeling the pressure mounting even as he tries to ensure a permanent position in a team known to be ruthless on underperforming drivers. However, he is also trying to make things lighter. Lawson revealed a funny anecdote from the time when he was still on the sidelines.

On The Red Flags podcast, he was asked about what he felt when the camera panned onto him whenever there was an on-track incident involving either Ricciardo or Perez. The 22-year-old revealed his huge struggle not to smile.

“You should see, I’m standing, something will happen, either one of them will spin, and I’ll look down the pitlane and a dude with his camera is sprinting down the pitlane to get the shot. I’m trying so hard not to smile, not because of what’s happening, but just because I know what they’re doing. I know the camera’s coming,” said Lawson.

Lawson’s full-time role at RB has given him the opportunity to prove his credentials against Perez. Nothing like a tussle on-track the old-fashioned way, right?

Lawson and Perez went wheel to wheel in Mexico

Perez started the Mexico City Grand Prix from P18 after a disappointing qualifying performance on Saturday. He was on a recovery/salavage drive to get into the points-scoring positions. However, when he started getting to the fringes of scoring points, he found himself behind Lawson, who was holding P10. Neither of them wanted to give an inch to the other.

It seemed like it was more than just a battle of position but a battle of asserting oneself on the other. They eventually crashed into each other on the exit of Turn 5, which ended up damaging the sidepods of Perez’s RB20. This cost him significant downforce, it was later revealed.

Interestingly, when Lawson came back around to pass Perez after the second pitstop, he showed the Mexican the middle finger. Their clash turned into a war of words after the race. Realizing what he did was inappropriate, Lawson later apologized for his gesture.

“It’s obviously one of those in-the-moment things,” he was quoted as saying by Motorsport. “He spent half the lap blocking me, trying to ruin my race, so I was upset. But it’s not an excuse. I shouldn’t have done it, and I apologize for that“.