"What's the idiot doing?"

Stinky finger and verbal battle! Trouble at Red Bull

Sergio Perez (left) and Liam Lawson (right) had quite a row.(Bild: AFP/APA/YURI CORTEZ)

While the eyes of the Formula 1 world are focused on the duel between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, there has been a real row at Red Bull on a "side stage". Sergio Perez and the new Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson clashed. Insults and a stinky finger scandal included. 

For Red Bull driver Perez, as has been the case for almost the entire season, things are not going according to plan at the important home race in Mexico. The 34-year-old has long been fighting for his sporting future alongside Verstappen and his cards are getting worse and worse. The biggest threat to his cockpit comes from the two Racing Bulls drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson.

The young New Zealander was only promoted out of the cockpit a few weeks ago by veteran Daniel Ricciardo and has impressed ever since. Perez sees his chances slipping away and can feel the 22-year-old breathing down his neck. A difficult situation that has now also caused internal trouble.

Horner tries to calm things down
On lap 18 of the race in Mexico, the two drivers had a duel. Perez wanted to overtake Lawson and was quite aggressive in his approach. However, he was unsuccessful. The New Zealander countered and Perez went off the track, damaging his car and losing valuable time in the process. 

Perez had no sympathy for this action and raged on the radio: "What's that idiot doing? Is he still okay?" But the situation seemed to have calmed down again. But Lawson finally went one better. When he overtook Perez later in the race after a tire change, he gave the Mexican the middle finger. 

A scandal that left the veteran stunned afterwards: "You don't behave like that. Especially when you're a new driver." Although Red Bull team boss Christian Horner subsequently tried to smooth things over and explained: "Liam has apologized for the incident", there is still plenty of potential for escalation.