F1 star CAUGHT flipping off rival at Mexican Grand Prix

Tempers flared at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday, with one driver flipping off a rival while overtaking him down the long home straight.

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez hosted a dramatic race, with the first lap alone seeing a false start and a crash before the drivers had even reached the first corner, bringing out a safety car.

READ MORE: F1 Mexican GP Results Today: MASSIVE penalties cause dramatic championship swing

Max Verstappen was the man to lead at the end of lap one, but the Red Bull man eventually came home in an unusually low P6 after a huge double punishment from the FIA.

It was a miserable day for Red Bull overall, with Sergio Perez failing to make any progress after starting down in P18.

If such an underwhelming performance in front of his home crowd was not bad enough, Visa Cash App RB driver Liam Lawson added insult to injury when he gave the Mexican the middle finger when overtaking him down the main straight.

READ MORE: Announcement confirms Vettel RETURN in stunning move

Liam Lawson flips off Sergio Perez

Prior to the incident, earlier in the race on lap 18, Perez and Lawson were shown battling hard for 10th place.

The pair even made slight contact with one another multiple times as Perez fired his Red Bull down the inside into turn four in an audacious move, and Lawson responded with equal aggression.

Later in the race, as Lawson flew past the Mexican down the straight with the aid of DRS, the incident was clearly on the Kiwi's mind, performing the hand gesture during the manoeuvre.

For added background context, Lawson has also been linked with replacing Perez at Red Bull next season and taking the second seat within the team alongside Verstappen.

Speaking to the media after the race, Perez was not at all impressed by the young VCARB driver.

"I don't have any relationship with him," Perez said on Lawson after the Mexico City incident. "The way he has come into Formula 1, I don't think he has the right attitude for it. He needs to be a bit more humble.

"When a two-time world champion [Fernando Alonso] was saying things last weekend, he completely ignored him."

As Perez referred to, this is the second consecutive weekend Lawson has irked one of his more senior colleagues.

Last time out in the United States, Alonso and Lawson raced hard, but the Spaniard did not take kindly to some of the Kiwi's moves, with Lawson revealing that Alonso had threatened to 'screw' him.

READ MORE: Surprise F1 star tipped to REPLACE Perez at Red Bull

Related

Mexican Grand Prix

Driver assaults and driver insubordination - Things you might've missed from the Mexican GP

• Today 15:00

Mexican Grand Prix

Perez reveals Red Bull future plans after Mexican GP disaster

• Today 04:00