Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson have both received one-grid place penalties for an “unacceptable” collision in second practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Verstappen tried to overtake Lawson up the inside at Turn 12 going into the old baseball stadium but the Racing Bulls driver held his ground, so the pair went side by side through Turn 13 and made contact at Turn 14 with a piece of debris falling off the Dutchman’s car and causing a red flag.

Collisions of this nature between drivers in practice are extremely rare, and the stewards stated both drivers “behaved in a manner that was considered unacceptable” and that a warning had been given at the team managers meeting earlier on Friday about overtaking in the final sector.

The stewards also said that Verstappen and Lawson both admitted the moves were “unnecessary and clumsy”.

They added: “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.”

‘Not smart when you’re fighting for your seat’ – Verstappen hits out at Lawson

The incident was made even more surprising by the fact the two teams have the same owners, with Racing Bulls considered Red Bull’s junior squad.

Racing Bulls have yet to confirm their 2027 driver line-up and Lawson’s future is up in the air despite the New Zealander sitting ninth in the standings, 39 points ahead of his team-mate Arvid Lindblad and occupying the ‘best of the rest’ position behind the top four teams.

Asked about the incident before the stewards’ verdict, Verstappen said: “I don’t think it’s called unlucky. Maybe not very smart behaviour what he was trying to do there.

“At the end of the day, it’s not going to change my weekend.

“If I would be him, I would act a little bit smarter. Also, when you are fighting for your seat, it’s not very smart behaviour.”

Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov, who made his F1 practice debut on Friday in Mexico, is second in the Formula 2 championship and remains in contention for a Racing Bulls seat next year.

Verstappen, who wields major power at Red Bull and over the summer signed a new long-term deal with the team, appeared to be referencing that situation with his comments.

In a separate interview, the four-time world champion added: “When he saw me coming, he suddenly started to accelerate. I don’t know what was going through his head, that he wanted to drive me off the track in the hairpin.

“That’s not very sensible behaviour from someone in his position, to pick a fight with me.”

Lawson, who was Verstappen’s team-mate for the first two rounds of the 2025 season before being brutally dropped by Red Bull, was not obliged to speak to the media after Friday’s track action.

However, in the immediate aftermath of the incident, Lawson said on the radio that Verstappen “literally drove into me” and added “if I back out every single time, what the **** do I do? He actually came off the track into the side of me”.

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane said both drivers were at fault for the “completely unnecessary” collision.

“I don’t know what Max has said, I haven’t heard or seen anything,” Permane said.

“I’m sure he’s got his opinion and Liam’s got his opinion but mine is, it’s just not needed and they can both do better.”

Which driver was more in the wrong?

Three-time W Series champion and Sky Sports F1’s Jamie Chadwick agreed with Verstappen’s comments on the incident, given the situation he is in.

“If it’s any other driver on the grid, you can stand your ground a little bit but when it’s the senior team, the team that also have an influence on the decision that goes into your race seat, does he need to do that? Probably not,” she said.

“But he was the same even when he raced Max as team-mates – he raced him very hard and they know exactly what that team is about, so I don’t think that was the wisest thing from potentially either of them, but particularly Liam’s side.”

Former McLaren and Aston Martin strategist Bernie Collins says both drivers will “regret their decisions”.

“Both drivers had an opportunity to do something different there and both drivers will think ‘was that corner, really worth that?’,” she said.

Is Lawson’s seat under threat for 2027?

Lawson is the highest placed midfield driver in the F1 Drivers’ Championship, with only the Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull drivers ahead of him in the standings.

He has bounced back from a disappointing two races with Red Bull at the start of 2025 and did enough to be handed a full season at Racing Bulls this year, where he has outperformed rookie Arvid Lindblad.

Lawson has scored twice as many points as Lindblad and Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok thinks it would be “unjust” if Lawson lost his seat.

“He’s done a fantastic job this season. He’s come back carrying the mental baggage of being sacked from the Red Bull top team, went back to the Red Bull earlier this year for three races [when Isack Hadjar was injured] and did a good job there. And he’s delivered really, really well,” said Chandhok.

“I get the junior team is a university to prepare drivers for the top team. Today, they are a strong midfield team, have their own identity, own sponsors, own reasons to be competitive and not just be there to train drivers up.”

Collins added: “There are two aspects to a feeder team. One is getting very young talent in, getting them ready for the big team but what Liam showed is he can step up into that big team seat and that’s important to have someone current that can just step up at any moment.

“I don’t really know what he can do and I’m a bit surprised we are talking about it because looking from the outside what’s happened at Racing Bulls this year, the points he’s scored and the races he’s done, he should have done enough, more than enough.

“If anything, we should be discussing Arvid Lindblad’s seat because he’s the one who hasn’t scored as many points. He’s had a good year by rookie standards but if you’re just looking at the scoresheet, which is what’s important to the teams, that’s the one you should be discussing – has he done enough against Liam Lawson?”

Sky Sports F1’s live Mexico City GP schedule

Saturday October 31
5.15pm: Mexico City Grand Prix Practice Three (session starts at 6.30pm)
8pm: Mexico City Grand Prix Qualifying build-up
9pm: MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING
11pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday November 1
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP build-up
8pm: THE MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX*
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP reaction
11pm: Ted’s Notebook

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in Mexico City where Kimi Antonelli could win the Drivers’ Championship in Sunday’s race at 8pm (build-up from 6.30pm), live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime