Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson hit with grid penalty for FP2 collision

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson have been given a one-place grid penalty for their collision during Free Practice 2 at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Feature image credit: Getty Images // Red Bull Content Pool

Both Verstappen and Lawson have been hit with one-place grid penalties for the upcoming Mexico City GP after the two unnecessarily collided during free practice 2 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

On boards showed that Lawson was on a cool/preparation lap, whilst Verstappen was coming up behind on his own preparation lap.

The two drivers entered the stadium section side-by-side, with Lawson trying to force Verstappen to yield track position, forcing the four-time world champion onto the run off area.

However, when Verstappen returned to the track, the two collided. The red flag was quickly brought out after debris from their tangle fell onto the circuit at the iconic stadium section, on the exit between the two stands.

Isack Hadjar summoned by FIA for misconduct at Mexico City Grand Prix

As such, the incident was investigated after the session. In identical documents, the stewards said:

“On the approach to turn 12 car 3 was on a preparation lap and car 30 was on a cool down lap preparing for another push lap. 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.

“Both drivers admitted the moves were unnecessary and ‘clumsy’.

“Noting that there had been similar incidents this year of actions between drivers in Free Practice, the Stewards have decided to escalate the penalty from that of a formal warning to a grid position penalty particularly in view of the warning that had been provided at the Team Managers meeting and consistent with other incidents involving contact between the cars in Free Practice in previous years.”

For their part in the incident, both Lawson and Verstappen were slapped with a  single penalty point on their licences, bringing their total to four and one for the respective drivers.

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.