Sport

Verstappen and Lawson receive grid penalty after clash in second practice at Mexico

Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson have been penalised with a one-place grid penalty for the Mexican Grand Prix following an incident in the second free practice session.

1 November 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

AI-generatedWritten by an AI system, editorially responsible — how we work

Archive photo: Verstappen and Lawson receive grid penalty after clash in second practice at Mexico — Archive photoPhoto: Liauzh · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson have both received a one-place grid penalty for the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix. This follows a clash between the two drivers during the second free practice session on Friday. Traffic situations in the well-known stadium section of the circuit led to the collision, with Verstappen sustaining the majority of the damage.

The stewards penalised both drivers for their roles in the incident. Verstappen, who only participated in the second session, recorded the fifth-fastest time during this practice.

In the first free practice, Charles Leclerc was the fastest, a performance he repeated in the second session. Despite the incident with Lawson, Verstappen managed to place in the practice, albeit without optimal results.

In the third free practice, which took place on Saturday, Verstappen again finished fifth. During this session, he experienced braking issues and conceded three and a half tenths to Lando Norris's fastest time.

Lando Norris had a strong session and finished ahead of Verstappen, while Kimi Antonelli trailed closely behind him with the second-fastest time. Antonelli, who is in a title fight, is looking ahead to qualifying.

Verstappen will start the race from fifth place, partly due to the grid penalty incurred in the second practice, and he indicated that he could have competed for pole position in the qualifying round if he hadn't been hindered by Norris.

This item was written by an AI system on the basis of the headlines and short teasers of the independently operating newsrooms named below. We disclose this under Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act). Before publication we check origin and verifiability — anything that appears in only one place is not published — as well as language, substance and legally sensitive content. No separate substantive review of each individual item by a natural person takes place; we therefore do not rely on the exemption in Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of the AI Act. Editorial responsibility for this publication rests with the person named in the imprint (§ 18 Abs. 2 MStV). Please report errors to [email protected] — we will correct or remove the item. Full reports are available from the sources listed.