- Liam Lawson walked over to Max Verstappen on Saturday morning to apologize for their contact in second practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix, and Lawson says the two cleared the air (per Motorsport.com).
- Later that day the Racing Bulls driver qualified eighth, then was disqualified for an MGU-K breach on his Q2 in-lap, and he will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid.
- Lawson’s contract expires at the end of 2026, Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies says Racing Bulls alone decide the 2027 lineup, and Lawson says he does not make that decision.
One Apology, One Disqualification and No Contract for 2027
Liam Lawson went looking for Max Verstappen on Saturday morning in Mexico City. “I went to see Max this morning to apologise,” Lawson said, a day after the two Red Bull drivers touched in second practice. Verstappen had spoken to reporters straight after that session on Friday. Lawson had not.
The apology came first, and the bad news followed. Later on Saturday Lawson qualified eighth, ahead of his teammate, and then lost the result altogether. He has no contract for next year, and his weekend now ends with a start from the back of the grid.
A Friday Clash With a Public Verdict
The contact in second practice earned both drivers a one-place grid penalty for the Mexican Grand Prix. Verstappen, a four-time champion, was outspoken in the media pen. He said he had “no idea what went through Liam’s head.” He called it “Maybe not very smart behaviour, what he was trying to do there,” and added that “if I were him I would act a little bit smarter.” He also said the incident was “not going to change my weekend.”
Then came the line that pointed straight at Lawson’s contract: “when you’re fighting for your seat, it’s not very smart behaviour.”
Lawson’s deal with Racing Bulls, the Red Bull sister team, runs out at the end of 2026. Red Bull owns both teams, so Lawson and Verstappen are employed by the same organization and race for different squads.
The stewards’ document explained the penalty. An incident like this one would normally earn a warning, it said, but the stewards wanted to set an example. They pointed to a discussion in the team managers’ meeting and to earlier practice incidents, and said it was time to stop that kind of behavior.
Asked whether he was surprised to be the example, Verstappen answered: “No, that doesn’t surprise me”. He added that it had “happened more often in the past” and that “There’s nothing you can do about it.” Pressed on whether the stewards single him out, he gave a shorter answer: “I don’t want to say too much about that. It is what it is.”
On the penalty itself he stayed measured. “Of course, I have my own opinion on it, but I’ve already said everything that I wanted to say about it,” he said. He qualified fourth, and the one-place drop moves him to the third row.
Lawson Walks Over to Say Sorry
Verstappen sat down with Lawson on Saturday morning, and by Lawson’s account the conversation worked. “Obviously, it’s not ideal and something that should never happen in practice,” Lawson said. He explained that he went over “to apologise” and that “it was never my intention to make contact.” He added: “It’s not good for both of us, I’ll learn from it going forward.”
Asked whether Verstappen’s harsh words on Friday had caught him off guard, Lawson pointed to the timing. “I think that’s all cleared up as well now. Obviously I didn’t do media yesterday, but when you come in straight from a session, there’s still adrenaline.”
Lawson also tied the apology to his own position. “I don’t want to have that happen in the future. And obviously right now it’s not the best time,” he said.
Verstappen is his former teammate. Red Bull named Lawson as Verstappen’s teammate for 2025, replacing Sergio Perez, and after two difficult races with the senior team Lawson was back at Racing Bulls. Whether Verstappen has any say in where Lawson drives next is a separate question, and Red Bull has answered it.
Mekies Draws a Line Around the Seat
Mekies said that the incident and the seat are two different subjects. Some things on track were “very unnecessary,” he said, and that is frustrating for the drivers and the teams involved. Driver decisions are another matter. On the 2027 Racing Bulls lineup he was blunt: it is “down to them and only down to them.”
Asked to confirm whether Verstappen could influence the choice, Mekies said: “Max knows motorsport far too much to be influenced by a single episode anyway.” Mekies has credited Verstappen for Red Bull’s turnaround this season, but on the Racing Bulls seat he gave the champion no role.
Eighth on the Grid, Then Gone From the Results
Lawson qualified eighth, ahead of teammate Arvid Lindblad. With his one-place penalty he would have started ninth.
Then the stewards took the result away. After Lawson crossed the line at the end of his fastest lap in Q2, he did not lift off the power straight away. His MGU-K deployment did not reduce at the rate the regulations demand, a requirement known as the step down. The stewards found breaches of two articles of the technical regulations.
The stewards noted that the team had reported the breach itself. They said many precedents left them no choice but to disqualify, and that the rule applies whether or not a car gains an advantage. The car was not in breach when Lawson set his qualifying time, and the disqualification still covers the whole session.
Racing Bulls acknowledged the decision in a statement. The team said the required rate of reduction was not met on Lawson’s in-lap and stressed that “no advantage was gained.” The stewards gave Lawson permission to start the race from the back of the grid.
The ruling erased the eighth place that had put him ahead of his teammate.
A Seat Question With No Answer Yet
In a Dutch media session at the track, Verstappen was asked who deserves the Racing Bulls seat for 2027: Lawson or Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov. A day earlier his tone had been sharp. This time he held back.
“That’s always a bit of a problem, of course, when you have a lot of talented drivers and one of them starts doing really well at a certain point,” he said. “Are you going to give that driver a chance or not? I’ll leave that to the team.” Asked for his own opinion, he indicated he had one but kept it private: “Yeah, I don’t need to say that.”
Lawson gave a similar answer after qualifying when asked how confident he felt about staying on the grid. “Formula 1’s a tough sport, so I’m trying to do my best at the moment, trying to score in every race that I can, but I don’t make that decision.”
The standings give him something to point to. Before the Mexico City race, Lawson sat ninth in the drivers’ championship with 77 points after 18 rounds, with 13 top-ten finishes and one retirement. Lindblad was 11th with 38. Verstappen was fourth with 236. Across his career Lawson has entered 53 grands prix and scored 121 points, with a best finish of fifth, achieved twice.
His road to those numbers has had sharp turns. Lawson was born in Hastings, New Zealand, and was inspired as a youngster by the Lightning McQueen character from the Disney animation Cars. He made his F1 debut in 2023 when Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand in a practice crash at the Dutch Grand Prix. Later that season he beat Verstappen into Q3 in Singapore, and Red Bull told him just before that qualifying run that there was no seat for him in 2024. Three years later he is again waiting on a decision about the next season, and the question of who drives for Racing Bulls in 2027 has no answer yet.
Lawson will start the Mexico City Grand Prix from the back of the grid, with Verstappen on the third row and an apology already delivered. The decision on 2027 stays with the team, as Mekies and Verstappen both said, and Lawson has told the paddock that he is trying to score in every race he can.
