The pair clashed while battling for 10th place as Perez worked to recover from a lowly 18th grid spot.

Having moved up the inside under brakes at Turn 4, Perez then moved across the road on exit, crowding Lawson who maintained position on his outside.

Refusing the budge, the Kiwi took the apex of Turn 5, at which point the Red Bull Racing on his outside ran wide and over the exit kerb.

Perez’s car sustained significant floor damage that crippled his chances of a points-paying finish as a consequence.

The pair then found each other on track again in the latter stages, Lawson showing his middle figure to his Mexican colleague as he passed down the front straight.

Though he apologised for the move later, it was not well-received by Marko.

“[It was] an unnecessary collision, where I see Lawson as being more to blame,” he told ORF.

Perez was boxed in the final laps as Red Bull Racing chased the bonus point for fastest lap, though the damage to his car was such that those efforts were in vain.

All told, the 34-year-old crossed the line 17th and last.

“You can’t talk about his performance because his car was so damaged,” Marko said of Perez’s performance.

“So there was no way he could drive on the limit.

“And also the performance of the car was terrible. I would say that we could make the car work on the hard tyre or the medium tyre.

“And then Checo, with the collision with Lawson it was a big damage. He lost about 60 points of downforce. So the car was far from competitive.”

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But while there were mitigating circumstances in terms of the final result, Perez’s Sunday woes can be traced back to his failure to deliver in qualifying.

That has seen pressure on him mount further, with Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner leaving the door open for a change in personnel even before the end of the year.

Having led the constructors’ championship comfortably, the Milton Keynes squad is now a, comparatively, distant third to McLaren and Ferrari with Perez’s contribution significantly lacking.

“Liam has obviously apologised, I think, to Checo for the incident and you know, obviously there’ll be lessons that come out of that.,” Horner said of the race.

“But frustrating, certainly for Checo’s race, to pick up the damage and lose valuable points.

“Checo again, has had a horrible weekend, and nothing’s right for him,” he added.

“He knows Formula 1 is a results-based business and inevitably, when you’re not delivering, then the spotlight is firmly on you.

“From a team’s perspective, we’re working with him as hard as we can to try and support him.

“I think we’ve, done everything that we can to support Checo, and we’ll continue to do so in Brazil next weekend.

“But there comes a point in time that you can only do so much.”

Should Red Bull Racing opt for a change, Lawson is considered the leading contender to replace him.

It was that subtext that underpinned their clash on track in Mexico, and perhaps prompted Perez to question his young colleague’s attitude post-race.

“Checo was also very upset with Lawson. So I think we have to sit down and discuss it here,” Marko told Viaplay.

“But we know Lawson is a very tough racer. He’s very difficult to overtake.

“But it shouldn’t be within, not team-mates, but with sister teams.

“There should be more respect.”