The stewards have disqualified Liam Lawson from Qualifying for the F1 Mexico City GP after finding a technical breach on his Racing Bulls car. The New Zealander will now start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid.
Lawson had put in a strong performance in a tightly contested session, qualifying eighth and beating his team mate Arvid Lindblad. However, he already faced a one-place grid penalty for driving erratically during a clash with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in FP2. That sanction would have dropped him to P9. Verstappen also took a one-place drop for causing the collision.
Lawson’s afternoon then got worse after the 2026 F1 Mexico City GP Qualifying session. FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer flagged Car 30 to the stewards, reporting that Lawson was “in breach of the minimum MGU-K power requirement just after crossing the line on his fastest lap in Q2”.
The Technical Delegate’s report added: “The driver maximum power demand and the electrical DC power of the ERS-K were reduced at greater rates than what is permitted by the Regulations.”
Self-disclosure not enough to save Lawson
The stewards summoned Lawson and a team representative after the session. They heard from Racing Bulls’ representatives, Lawson himself, the Single Seater Sporting Director and members of the FIA Technical team, including the Technical Delegate.
“Evidence submitted, which was accepted by all parties present, showed that after the control line at the end of his fastest lap in Q2, the driver did not lift off the power immediately,” read the stewards’ decision document. “This resulted in the rate of reduction of MGU-K deployment required to achieve the regulated ‘step down’, not being achieved.”
“The team argued that this did not provide any performance advantage however it is clear that non-compliance with the Technical Regulations is not excused if no performance advantage is gained. Further, these regulations require that a car must comply with them at all times during an event.”
“The stewards note in particular that the team self-disclosed the breach however there are a multitude of precedents that require us, despite all mitigating circumstances, to impose a penalty of disqualfication where a car does not comply with the Technical Regulations.”
Lindblad moves up the order
Racing Bulls flagged the problem themselves, but the stewards ruled that precedent left them no choice. They struck Lawson from the qualifying classification and then permitted him to start the race. He will line up 22nd and last.
Lindblad now inherits eighth on the provisional grid, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly ninth and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg completing the top 10.
Hamilton snatches pole by nine thousandths
Up front, Lewis Hamilton claimed pole for Ferrari with a lap of 1:16.514, edging Mercedes’ George Russell by just nine thousandths of a second. Charles Leclerc qualified third in the second Ferrari, while Kimi Antonelli moves up to fourth after Verstappen’s penalty demoted the Dutchman to fifth. McLaren’s Lando Norris starts sixth, alongside Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar.
Further back, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas starts 21st after a 50-place grid penalty for using additional power unit elements.
