Verstappen and Lawson handed grid penalties after Mexico practice clash

Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson have each received a one-place grid penalty following their collision during Friday practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix, BBC Sport reported. The stewards ruled that both drivers shared responsibility, imposing a race-grid consequence for an incident that took place outside qualifying or the grand prix itself.

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The contact came in the stadium section near the end of the lap. Verstappen and Lawson negotiated three corners alongside each other before their cars struck side-on. According to the stewards' account cited by the BBC, Verstappen was getting ready to begin a flying lap, while Lawson was cooling down after a timed effort and preparing for another quick run. Both acknowledged that their manoeuvres had been unnecessary and poorly judged.

Before the decision was announced, Verstappen criticised Lawson's conduct and accused him of attempting to force him off the circuit at the hairpin. Those remarks represented Verstappen's account of the confrontation; the officials ultimately found fault with both men. Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane also criticised both drivers, saying the encounter was avoidable and that each should have handled it better.

The dispute involved drivers with recent experience as team-mates. Lawson partnered Verstappen for the opening two races of 2025 before returning to Racing Bulls. He also made three appearances alongside him this year while Isack Hadjar was sidelined with a broken wrist. BBC Sport reported that Lawson is competing with Racing Bulls team-mate Arvid Lindblad and Formula 2 driver Nikola Tsolov for the team's two seats next season.

Elsewhere in Friday's running, Charles Leclerc led both practice sessions for Ferrari. In the later session he finished 0.103 seconds ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris, with Mercedes driver George Russell another 0.003 seconds behind. Kimi Antonelli placed fourth, 0.217 seconds off Leclerc's benchmark, followed by Verstappen and Hadjar. Lewis Hamilton was 11th after a technical problem stopped his Ferrari before he could complete his qualifying-simulation work on soft tyres.

Antonelli remains in position to secure his first world championship on Sunday. According to the BBC's account of the title permutations, only a victory for Russell or Hamilton could keep the contest alive. Even in those circumstances, Antonelli would clinch the championship by finishing ninth if Russell won, or 10th if Hamilton took victory.