Liam Lawson has been disqualified from qualifying for the 2026 Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix after officials found his Racing Bulls car breached technical regulations.
Lawson had qualified eighth at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, ahead of teammate Arvid Lindblad, but was already set to drop to ninth on the grid following a one-place penalty for his incident with Max Verstappen during Friday’s second practice session.
However, following qualifying, Lawson was referred to the stewards after an issue was identified with his car’s MGU-K system during his fastest lap in Q2.
The FIA Technical Delegate’s report stated that Lawson was “in breach of the minimum MGU-K power requirement just after crossing the line on his fastest lap in Q2”.
“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.”
Lawson and Racing Bulls representatives were summoned to the stewards following the session, where the circumstances surrounding the breach were reviewed alongside FIA technical officials.
“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,” the stewards’ report stated.
“This resulted in the rate of reduction of MGU-K deployment required to achieve the regulated ‘step down’, not being achieved.”
Racing Bulls argued that the infringement had provided no performance advantage, but the stewards ruled that the car had still failed to comply with the technical regulations.
“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 also acknowledged that Racing Bulls had reported the breach themselves, but said previous decisions involving similar technical infringements required disqualification.
“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 disqualification where a car does not comply with the Technical Regulations.”
The decision means Lawson loses his eighth-place qualifying result and is now expected to start Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix from the back of the grid.
It is a disappointing outcome for the Kiwi, who showed strong pace throughout qualifying and looked set for another points-scoring opportunity before the technical infringement undone his session result.
Header Photo: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool
