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Lawson disqualified from Mexico City GP qualifying, to start last

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In short

Liam Lawson will start Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix from the back of the grid after his car breached technical regulations during qualifying. He had originally qualified eighth before the technical infraction was announced by race officials. Prior to that ruling, Lawson had already incurred a one-place penalty for a Friday practice collision with Max Verstappen that also dropped the Red Bull driver from fourth to fifth. Facing an unresolved racing future for 2027, Lawson remains focused on learning from these setbacks and fighting for points.

Key points

  • Lawson must attempt to score points on Sunday after being forced to start from the very r…: Lawson must attempt to score points on Sunday after being forced to start from the very rear of the grid.
  • Verstappen criticized the young driver's on-track judgment following their collision, eve…: Verstappen criticized the young driver's on-track judgment following their collision, even after Lawson visited him to apologize.
  • The setback arrives at a critical juncture while Lawson works to resolve his racing futur…: The setback arrives at a critical juncture while Lawson works to resolve his racing future for 2027.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

MEXICO CITY, Oct 31 : Liam Lawson will start Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix from last place after his Racing Bulls car was found to be in breach of the technical rules after Saturday's qualifying.

The New Zealander had already been handed a one-place grid drop from eighth to ninth after colliding with Red Bull's Max Verstappen in practice.

Lawson also apologised to four-time champion Verstappen, who was given a one-place penalty from fourth to fifth for his part in the collision.

"I went to see Max this morning to apologise. Obviously, it was never my intention to make contact," Lawson told reporters before his disqualification.

"Obviously, for both of us, it's not good, so yeah, I'll learn from it going forward."

Verstappen had been critical of his former Red Bull team mate after the incident on Friday, questioning Lawson's judgement and suggesting it was particularly unwise given the New Zealander's uncertain future in Formula One.

"Ultimately only Max knows how he feels," Lawson said. "Like I said, it was never my intention to have contact. So apologies for that."

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