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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSergio Perez and Liam Lawson renewed their past hostilities in Melbourne. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSergio Perez and Liam Lawson renewed their past hostilities in Melbourne. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
The Racing Bulls driver finished a frustrating 13th in the 2026 season opener at Albert Park, but one of the race\u2019s more heated moments came during a robust scrap with the Cadillac driver in the midfield.<\/p>\n
Lawson suggested their aggressive exchange may have had roots in incidents between the pair two years earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I mean, two years later, he\u2019s not over it,\u201d Lawson said, referencing the pairs tense battles during the later stages of the 2024 season when Perez was still at Red Bull.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s fighting me like it\u2019s for the world championship and we\u2019re like P16.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, yeah, I mean, obviously I don\u2019t really care too much. My race was already over at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
The clash came early in the race when Lawson closed rapidly on Perez and attempted to go around the outside at Turn 3.<\/p>\n
Perez defended firmly, forcing the New Zealander to back out after brief side-by-side contact before eventually moving ahead a lap later.<\/p>\n
The stewards reviewed the incident but ultimately decided no further action was required, something Lawson was largely indifferent about.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean it was nothing illegal. He was just aggressive. Honestly I don\u2019t care. It\u2019s for P16.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tension between the two drivers dates back to the latter part of the 2024 season when they were involved in several tense on-track battles, including a controversial clash during the Mexico City Grand Prix that left Perez with damage to his car.<\/p>\n
While the pair found themselves fighting much further down the order in Melbourne, the latest exchange suggested the rivalry has not entirely cooled.<\/p>\n
Lawson\u2019s race had effectively been compromised from the moment the lights went out.<\/p>\n
After qualifying an impressive eighth on Saturday, the New Zealander suffered a major issue off the line that immediately dropped him down the order and left him scrambling through the midfield for the remainder of the race.<\/p>\n
\u201c[I]didn\u2019t move. I lost all power and then I couldn\u2019t get it back for another five seconds,\u201d he said of his start.<\/p>\n
\u201cA couple of seconds later I got it back and then got wheelspin. I don\u2019t know why. I haven\u2019t had that in testing.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It\u2019s] a bit frustrating. We obviously had a very good day yesterday. We qualified in a great position. I think the pace in the race was okay. Just sort of finding issues throughout the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s something I\u2019ll review, but definitely at the end of the day, even after the start through the race we were fighting issues, so it\u2019s a shame.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further battery problems during the race compounded the frustration, with Lawson reporting that he was harvesting energy but unable to deploy it effectively.<\/p>\n
Even so, he was still able to make some progress later in the race, climbing back to 13th by the chequered flag.<\/p>\n
The Racing Bulls driver admitted the new generation of Formula 1 machinery had also made life difficult in wheel-to-wheel situations during the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly it\u2019s not super fun to drive in the race,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just constantly managing energy. Running out of energy. Slowing down at the end of every straight, it can be pretty painful.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think for us, we\u2019ve had quite a strong engine throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had some issues in the race, which wasn\u2019t ideal, but I think without that we probably could\u2019ve moved further forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawson\u2019s difficult afternoon contrasted sharply with the performance of rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad, who impressed by finishing eighth on his Formula 1 debut and scoring points for Racing Bulls.<\/p>\n
Mercedes outsmarts Ferrari for 1-2 in epic Australian GP<\/a><\/p>\n
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