Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson have been summoned to see FIA stewards after Friday’s testing at the Mexican Grand Prix.
The former Red Bull teammates were involved in a bizarre collision that triggered a red flag during FP2 with debris left on the track.
Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson under FIA investigation
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Entering the stadium section during the second hour of practice, Verstappen, in the Red Bull, made a move towards the inside of Lawson in the Racing Bulls junior car.
Lawson held on heading into Turn 13, as Verstappen waved a hand in frustration at the New Zealander.
The Dutchman was shown the edge of the track, and as he came back over the curb and onto the circuit, the two men made contact.
Although the damage inflicted wasn’t too great, Lawson required a front wing change, while Verstappen’s fin had seen better days.
The incident raised a brief red flag so marshals could clear debris coming out of T13.
The clash was noted by the FIA stewards, who turned this into a post-session investigation, summoning both Verstappen and Lawson as part of that investigation.
Sky F1 analyst Bernie Collins, former McLaren principal performance engineer and former Aston Martin strategy chief, believes both drivers will view the incident as not worth it.
She said: “From a pit wall, from a car, from the driver’s side, in a (F)P2 session, losing a component is the worst thing that can happen to you really, or is quite negative for the rest of your weekend. We don’t know how many spares the teams have at this stage of the season.”
“I think both drivers will probably regret their decision, in the calm of the debriefing.
“I don’t know at the moment if Verstappen was on a push lap, but then he ran the rest of the session with that damage to that front fin, which will have cost him performance and affected future runs and the learning they will take for the rest of the weekend.
“Both drivers had the opportunity to do something different there, and I think both drivers will wonder if that turn was really worth it. It wasn’t.”
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Verstappen ultimately finished FP2 in fifth place, three-tenths off the pace of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who completed the double on Friday by leading both FP1 and FP2.
Verstappen is in contention to secure a second place in the Drivers’ Championship standings.
As for Lawson, he finished Friday in P9, just over half a tenth behind his Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad.
Racing Bulls are yet to confirm their line-up for F1 2027, with Lawson, Lindblad and Nikola Tsolov – who appeared for the team during FP1 – all vying for the two seats.
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