Liam Lawson has recalled the horrific social media messages he received after the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, following an on-track incident with local hero Sergio Perez, describing them as something "you can't even imagine".
What unfolded after the race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, in just his second Formula 1 race after replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull's sister team, was shocking.
The New Zealander was subjected to horrific online abuse from a section of Perez's fans following a heated battle, during which Lawson showed the Mexican driver his middle finger.
Immediately after the race, Lawson acknowledged it was something he should not have done, but by that point fans of the then-Red Bull driver had already flooded his social media with abusive messages.
Lawson remembers returning to the garage to find his phone blowing up with message requests, having not yet muted his notifications.
It was a key moment early in Lawson's F1 career, prompting him to delete all his social media apps. He later returned to some platforms in 2025, but solely to keep up with what his friends were doing.
"There's, like, little things that have happened to me over my short Formula 1 career so far that have, at the time, felt quite big, but I've looked back on them and been grateful for them," Lawson told the High Performance podcast.
"I think Mexico was one of those moments. I realised that with the stuff involving Checo when I first came into Formula 1 in 2024 and we had our incident on track. Then I came in, and I hadn't even muted my Instagram notifications at that point.
"My phone... I've never seen anything like it. The messages, the comments on posts – the craziest stuff you could imagine people saying.
"Even now, if I wanted to pull it up and go through my message requests and stuff like that, you can't even imagine some of the things people are saying."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Nick Golding and Samuel Coop as they look back on last weekend's British Grand Prix! They discuss whether the title fight has been blown wide open, if Ferrari is a genuine contender and Max Verstappen's major criticism of the RB22.
Get the latest F1 news from RacingNews365 directly in your Google feed! Click on the link below and you’ll see your favourite F1 website appearing even more often. That way, you’ll never miss any news, analyses, interviews, or exclusives.
Follow RacingNews365 on GoogleMost read
In this article
Never miss a thing from the Formula 1 season! Add the 2026 F1 schedule to your calendar at the touch of a button. Subscribe below and put the dates and times of every race directly on your PC or smartphone, so you don't miss a second from the new season.
Download the F1 calendar Download the F1 calendar
A variant with just the race and qualifying is also available.
Click here to download it..
Join the conversation!