Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson penalized for practice crash

UPDATE - follow-up to Leclerc sets pace in Friday practice at Mexico City Grand Prix: Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson received one-place grid penalties after colliding during Friday practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix. Both cars suffered damage in the incident, with Lawson needing a new front wing and Verstappen requiring repairs to his bargeboards.

The Incident

The clash happened in the stadium section near the end of the lap after the two drivers ran side by side through three corners. The FIA stewards reported that Verstappen was on a preparation lap while Lawson was on a cool-down lap before another push lap. Both drivers admitted their moves were clumsy and unnecessary. According to the NZ Herald - Sport, the stewards escalated the punishment from a formal warning to a grid penalty because of a warning given at the earlier team managers meeting.

Driver Reactions

Verstappen criticized Lawson, calling his actions not very smart behavior and stating that fighting for a seat makes such moves unwise. Lawson is competing with Arvid Lindblad and Nikola Tsolov for two seats at Red Bull's junior team, Racing Bulls. Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane described the collision as unnecessary and said both drivers could do better.

Context

Grid penalties in Formula One force a driver to start further back than where they qualified, making it harder to fight for race wins. Practice sessions are meant for teams to test car setups rather than battle on track, which is why stewards take aggressive clashes during practice seriously.