F1 pundit Christijan Albers believes Max Verstappen has finally met his match in Liam Lawson following their bizarre incident during FP2 at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen put his stablemate on blast in the aftermath of the incident that landed them in hot water with race control, and urged Liam Lawson to be ‘smarter’ while he is still ‘fighting’ for his seat on the 2027 grid.

Lawson ended up apologising to Verstappen the next day, despite arguably being the one who was heckled by his rival, but has since been defended by several figures from inside the F1 paddock.

Juan Pablo Montoya is among those who defended Lawson, as well as Dutch former F1 driver Christijan Albers, who believes the four-time world champion has now met his match.

Christijan Albers says Liam Lawson is ‘not afraid of anyone’ after racing Max Verstappen in FP2 at Mexico

Both drivers were slapped with a one-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race following the incident. Despite being dropped down to P5 on the grid for the Grand Prix, Verstappen still managed to take the chequered flag in first.

Lawson had a more difficult race, but came away with it six points richer in the championship standings after securing a P7 finish from the pit lane. His race included an impressive three-car overtake on the restart, which was missed by the TV directors.

Reacting to the incident while speaking to Telesport following the conclusion of the race weekend, Albers praised Lawson’s decision to not back down from the four-time world champion, while remaining neutral in his verdict regarding who was at fault.

“Lawson has really got some serious b—-, and so does Max,” the Dutchman began, before adding: “Look, Max doesn’t let anyone pull the wool over his eyes. He stands his ground, and well, so does Lawson.

“Once he puts that helmet on, he’s not afraid of anyone. Not in a million years. But then, of course, you end up with a situation like this.”

While he refused to name a perpetrator, Albers also criticised Verstappen for his eyebrow-raising comments afterwards, continuing with: “It’s just not smart, not for Lawson in that situation, and not for Verstappen either – I mean, in Free Practice 2.

“I understand your answer, Max, but on the other hand, you’re a bit further ahead. You are, after all, a bloody four-time world champion.

“If I’d been in the team – though of course I don’t know what happened, because I was at home, we weren’t there – I would have pulled those two aside straight after that session. Then you might have had different interviews as well.”

The moment in FP2 marked the third time this season Lawson went toe-to-toe with Verstappen, which is quite a big change from the fairly tame battles we have seen from Red Bull’s stable of drivers against the Dutchman in recent years.

While it appears as though Lawson may lose his seat to Nikola Tsolov at the end of the year, it will certainly help his stock in the eyes of the other constructors on the F1 grid.