Liam Lawson finished ninth in the second practice session for the Mexico City Grand Prix, recovering from a collision with Max Verstappen that left his Racing Bulls car needing a replacement front wing.
Lawson returned to the cockpit for Free Practice 2 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez after sitting out the opening session, with Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov taking his place as part of Formula 1’s mandatory rookie practice requirements.
Despite losing track time following his incident with Verstappen, Lawson recovered to finish inside the top ten, just two places behind Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad.
Lawson watched from the sidelines during the opening hour of running as Formula 2 frontrunner Nikola Tsolov made his Formula 1 practice debut.
The Bulgarian was one of several young drivers given an opportunity, with ten of the eleven teams running at least one rookie during FP1. Tsolov completed 31 laps in Lawson’s Racing Bulls, recording a best time of 1:19.604 to finish 12th overall.
His lap was 1.476 seconds slower than session leader Charles Leclerc, but just 0.126 seconds behind Lindblad, who finished tenth in the other Racing Bulls. It was an encouraging first outing for Tsolov, who was the third-fastest rookie behind Mercedes reserve driver Fred Vesti and Red Bull’s Ayumu Iwasa.
The session wasn’t entirely straightforward, however, with Tsolov reporting smoking brakes early in the hour before later experiencing discomfort and reduced circulation in his right leg, forcing him to briefly get out of the car.
Nevertheless, he completed a solid number of laps in his first official Grand Prix practice appearance.
Leclerc led the session with a 1:18.128, finishing 0.659 seconds ahead of championship leader Kimi Antonelli, while Vesti impressed in third, just 0.074 seconds behind his Mercedes teammate.
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, followed by Iwasa, Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri, Oliver Bearman and Lindblad.
With Lawson back behind the wheel, Racing Bulls began the second practice session running both cars on hard tyres while several rivals opted for the medium compound.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar initially led the way with a 1:19.584 before Piastri and Hamilton lowered the benchmark, the latter posting a 1:18.741.
Lawson completed his first run in tenth, with Lindblad sixth and approximately four-tenths separating the teammates. As the session progressed, Leclerc moved to the top with a 1:18.257, putting Ferrari first and second.
Lawson continued to find time, improving by half a second on his next flying lap to move from 14th to ninth. However, his session soon took a turn following a wheel-to-wheel incident with Verstappen.
The two former Red Bull teammates came together while battling for track position, forcing Verstappen off the circuit and leaving debris scattered across the track.
The contact resulted in damage to Lawson’s front wing, while race control brought out the red flag to allow marshals to clear the debris. Lawson quickly voiced his frustration over team radio.
“He just drove into me. Like he literally just drove into me. Every weekend!” Lawson said.
The incident appeared to stem from a disagreement over racing room, with Verstappen attempting to challenge Lawson through the corner despite not being sufficiently alongside to establish a clear entitlement to space.
Lawson returned to the Racing Bulls garage, where his crew fitted a replacement front wing before he could rejoin the session. The stewards confirmed they would investigate the incident after practice.
Once running resumed, Lawson returned to the circuit on soft tyres and immediately improved, climbing to seventh on the timesheets. His lap was just 0.015 seconds slower than Verstappen’s at that stage and approximately seven-tenths behind Lando Norris, who had moved to the top with a 1:18.161.
Further disruption followed when Ferrari instructed Hamilton to stop his car immediately due to a power issue, triggering a Virtual Safety Car with 32 minutes remaining.
As the session entered its final 25 minutes, Leclerc reclaimed the top spot with a 1:17.827, ahead of Norris and Antonelli.
Lindblad also showed strong pace, moving into sixth, around half a second off Leclerc’s benchmark. Lawson responded shortly afterwards, improving to seventh and closing to within 0.066 seconds of his Racing Bulls teammate.
With several drivers improving in the closing stages, Lawson eventually slipped to ninth, while Lindblad held onto seventh.
Leclerc completed a clean sweep of Friday’s practice sessions, finishing FP2 fastest ahead of Norris and George Russell. Antonelli was fourth, followed by Verstappen and Hadjar, with Lindblad seventh, Gasly eighth, Lawson ninth and Piastri completing the top ten.
For Lawson, it was a positive recovery after missing the opening session and losing further running following his collision with Verstappen. With both Racing Bulls drivers finishing inside the top ten, the team will be looking to carry that pace into Saturday’s final practice and qualifying sessions.
Free Practice 3 gets underway at 6:30am NZT tomorrow, with Lawson looking to build on his ninth-place finish ahead of qualifying.
Header Photo: Formula 1 via X
