Verstappen and Lawson Face Grid Penalty for Incident at Mexico City Grand Prix

Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson will each be starting one position further down the grid for this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, following a collision during the second practice session on Friday.

During the second hour of practice, the two drivers found themselves near Turn 12 of the circuit. Verstappen was on a preparation lap, while Lawson was cooling down from a prior lap, gearing up for another push. Their cars came dangerously close, racing wheel-to-wheel from Turn 12 through Turn 14 and making contact several times.

The contact led to debris scattered across the track, prompting officials to issue a red flag to clear the area.

Race stewards took note of the incident for further review, and both drivers were called in to discuss it after FP2. In their meeting, the stewards reported that both admitted their maneuvers were “unnecessary” and somewhat “clumsy.” This acknowledgment played a role in the stewards’ decision.

Consequently, both Verstappen and Lawson received a one-place grid drop. The stewards indicated that there had been similar occurrences earlier this year, which prompted them to raise the penalty from a formal warning to a grid position penalty. This decision also took into account a warning given in a Team Managers meeting and consistent handling of similar incidents in previous years.

After the incident, Verstappen expressed confusion about Lawson’s actions during the collision. He commented to the media, “Not very smart behavior, what he was trying to do there. At the end of the day, it’s not going to change my weekend, but if I were him, I would act a little bit smarter. Also, when you’re fighting for your seat, it’s not very smart behavior.”

In terms of performance, Verstappen ended FP2 in fifth place, while Lawson secured the ninth-fastest time.