Admittedly, the 22-year-old had as close to his desired weekend as possible, until a late incident saw him forced to settle for 16th place.
But while Lawson leaves Mexico with no points, what happened at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez could ultimately be telling in his race for a Red Bull seat in 2025.
Here’s what we learned from Monday’s Grand Prix:
Win the battle, win the war
Off the track, the narrative around Red Bull has shifted to who should partner Max Verstappen next season.
Since re-signing with the team earlier this year, Sergio Perez’s form has not been anything close to that of a driver fighting to help his side win a world championship.
If, as it is widely understood, the end of the season is a battle between Lawson and Perez, the Kiwi looks certain to have his nose in front.
Lawson was quicker than Perez all weekend, bettering him in practice and qualifying, in a less competitive car. And after an early incident between the two drivers saw Lawson get his elbows out, Perez’s weekend was over there and then.
What’s more, Red Bull senior team principal Christian Horner refused to condemn Lawson in any way for ending his driver’s race:
“They’re independent teams,” he said. “As you can see, they raced each other hard, there was contact.
“Checo [Perez] unfortunately picked up quite a lot of damage, but that’s racing.”
Don’t respect your elders
For two races in a row now, Lawson has refused to be bullied by a more experienced driver. Last week, he bested Fernando Alonso – twice – before doing the same to Perez in Mexico.
Lawson is now public enemy No 1 in Mexico – his Instagram comments section proves that. However, what it shows is Lawson isn’t racing to make friends – pulling the finger at Perez as he overtook him after coming out of the pits on faster tyres is all the proof of that you’ll need. Lawson has since apologised for the incident.
In the past, drivers coming into Formula One have been overawed by the big occasion, and suffered as a result. But since Lawson stepped into the AlphaTauri in late 2023, he’s shown that he fears no one on track.
While off the track, Lawson is one of the politest drivers you’ll ever meet, he’s ruthless on it. Perez will be looking over his shoulder until the future of the second Red Bull seat is sorted.
Red Bull need to make a change
Regardless of whether Lawson is in that Red Bull seat or not, it’s clear that Perez cannot continue for much longer. Red Bull – who have won the past two constructors championships without any major competition – are now third.
Ferrari’s back-to-back victories in Austin and Mexico City have them up to third, while McLaren lead the way. Drivers may want to claim the individual title, but the constructors championship is how teams make their money.
Red Bull waited too long in sacking Daniel Ricciardo for Lawson at RB, and now that Mexico – Perez’s home race – is out of the way, only time will tell if they do the same for their senior team.
Pressure telling on Perez
As far as Perez goes, it’s very clear that he knows what’s coming his way. Red Bull are usually ruthless with their drivers, as seen by the brutal manner in which Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon both lost their drives with the team.
What’s more, when they lost their jobs both of those drivers were performing better in comparison with Verstappen than Perez is currently managing. After Mexico, Perez is now 212 points behind his teammate, in the exact same car.
Speculation that Perez would be sacked over the summer break ultimately proved to be false, but only because Red Bull couldn’t guarantee Lawson or Ricciardo would be an immediate improvement. But as the end of 2024 approaches, the 34-year-old should be very worried.
To his credit, Perez at the very least put on a brave face once his home Grand Prix was done.
“I don’t get it. He just went for the incident, damaging both of our races,” said Perez. “I picked up massive damage on the side, and that was game over.
“It was totally avoidable, there was no need. We were in a great position, hard tyres, I had the corner, he went off the track completely and just went straight.
“I was quite surprised to see him there, at that point it was too late.”
Not so smooth sailing for Lawson
While Lawson can claim a moral win over Perez individually, on track he can’t have another race like this one.
The same strategy that netted two points last week was ultimately undone by the Mexican circuit.
By the time he had a scrape with Argentinian Franco Colapinto late in the race, Lawson was 12th, and unlikely to challenge the top 10 for points.
Lawson did well to avoid a first-lap crash that accounted for teammate Yuki Tsunoda, but clashing with Perez and Colapinto probably isn’t the best look at a time where RB are battling against Haas for sixth place in the constructors championship.
Beating Perez will only prove so much in the race for that 2025 seat. What will ultimately tell is results for RB.
Come Brazil, that’s what has to happen first and foremost.
