Verstappen and Lawson both penalised after clumsy Mexico GP practice clash

Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson have been handed one-place grid penalties and a superlicence penalty point each after stewards deemed their contact during Friday’s second practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez ‘unacceptable’.

The incident unfolded in the Foro Sol stadium section of the circuit as Verstappen, on a preparation lap in his Red Bull, attempted to pass Lawson’s Racing Bulls car heading into Turn 12. Lawson defended, leaving the two drivers side by side through the stadium complex. Verstappen found himself on the outside at Turn 13 and was forced over the kerbs at Turn 14, where the two cars made contact. The collision left Verstappen’s barge boards damaged for the remainder of the session.

Speaking in the media pen afterwards, the four-time world champion was pointed in his assessment of his former team-mate. “I don’t understand what went through Liam’s head,” Verstappen said. “For me, it’s just not very smart behavior when you’re in his position, to pick a fight with me.”

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane took a more measured view, attributing the clash largely to the specific demands of the Mexico City circuit. “When you’re doing a lap here, one thing that’s really important is to do the last sector fast — that gives you good tyres for Turn 1,” Permane explained. “They were both going for that and I think if I describe it with one word, it’s just unnecessary.”

The FIA stewards’ verdict, which took several hours to reach, noted that both Verstappen (car 3) and Lawson (car 30) were on different types of preparation laps when the incident occurred. Crucially, stewards highlighted that a warning about precisely this kind of behaviour had already been issued at the Team Managers meeting earlier on Friday.

“The drivers of both cars behaved in a manner that was considered unacceptable by the Stewards, particularly in view of the warning that had been given at the Team Managers meeting earlier this day,” the FIA document read. “Both drivers admitted the moves were unnecessary and ‘clumsy’.”

Stewards chose to escalate beyond a formal warning, citing a pattern of similar practice-session incidents across the 2024 season. Both drivers will line up one position lower than their qualifying result on Sunday’s grid in Mexico City.