Sergio Perez blasts "disrespectful" Liam Lawson after Mexico GP middle finger incident

Sergio Perez said rival "does not have the right attitude" for after their clashes at the .

Lawson is the top candidate for 's seat should decide to make a change amid his wretched form. And the Mexican did himself no favours at his home race by qualifying down in 18th and finishing the race miles outside the points.

His chances of cutting through the pack were hampered from the beginning when he was penalised for not being correctly positioned in his pit box. And then he picked up significant damage to the sidepod of his car after contact with the VCARB of Lawson.

"He was outside the track and just came in straight like there was no car," fumed the 34-year-old. "I think he could have avoided the incident. Luckily I saw him and I opened the room, otherwise it would have been a massive crash.

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"There was no need. It damaged both of our races. I think it was just a little bit too much. He did the same with Fernando [Alonso], with Franco [Colapinto] at the end. And there are no penalties."

Perez may well feel threatened by Lawson, especially after his strong second debut for the sister Red Bull team a week earlier in Austin. And the Kiwi showed that he does not have many warm feelings for his counterpart either by while overtaking him later in the race.

Perez continued: "I do not have any relationship with him. The way he has come into Formula 1, I do not think he has the right attitude for it. He needs to be a bit more humble. When a two-time champion was saying things last weekend, he completely ignored him.

"When you come to Formula 1, you are obviously very hungry but you have to be respectful on track and off track and I do not think he is showing the right attitude. I think he is a great driver and I hope for him that he can step back and learn from it."

Lawson described his collision with Perez as "unfortunate" and said it was "not my intention" to cause damage to the Red Bull car. He also said his hand gesture to his rival was "one of those in-the-moment things" and apologised for his actions.

He said: "[Perez] spent half the lap blocking me, trying to ruin my race, so I was upset. But it is not an excuse. I should not have done it and I apologise for that. It is not in my character and I should not have done it."