News Summary
- Liam Lawson recovered from a pit-lane start to finish ninth in the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix, securing two championship points for Racing Bulls.
- The New Zealander had been disqualified from qualifying over an MGU-K infringement, before additional technical changes forced him to start from the pit lane.
- Lawson overcame a frustrating pit-stop sequence and benefited from late-race incidents, completing one of the strongest recoveries of Sunday’s race.
Liam Lawson transformed a disastrous Mexican Grand Prix weekend into a points-scoring result on Sunday (November 1), recovering from a pit-lane start to finish ninth at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The Racing Bulls driver overcame his disqualification from qualifying, further technical complications and a frustrating Safety Car period to collect two points in a race won by Max Verstappen.
The result was particularly significant after Lawson had initially qualified eighth on Saturday, only to lose his position because of an infringement involving the MGU-K power deployment system.
Lawson goes from eighth in qualifying to pit-lane start
Lawson had shown competitive pace throughout qualifying, reaching Q3 and recording the eighth-fastest time.
However, the FIA subsequently identified an irregularity immediately after his fastest Q2 lap.
The stewards found that the Racing Bulls had failed to comply with the required reduction in MGU-K electrical power, breaching Articles C5.12.6 and C5.12.7 of the 2026 Technical Regulations.
Although Racing Bulls reported the infringement itself and argued that no competitive advantage had been gained, the FIA imposed disqualification from qualifying.
Lawson was initially placed at the back of the Mexican Grand Prix grid.
His situation became more complicated on Sunday when the team made additional changes to the car.
Racing Bulls replaced several power unit components and modified the suspension setup under parc fermé conditions, resulting in a pit-lane start rather than a start from 22nd on the grid.
The New Zealander had also received a one-place grid penalty following his collision with Verstappen during Friday practice.
Lawson fumes over pit stop before Bottas red flag
Despite starting behind the entire field, Lawson steadily gained positions during the opening half of the race.
The Racing Bulls driver had climbed to 15th when Valtteri Bottas crashed, triggering a Safety Car followed by a red flag.
Lawson had stopped shortly before the interruption, leaving him frustrated when the neutralisation changed the strategic picture.
“Are you kidding me, bro?” he complained over the radio.
The New Zealander also expressed his frustration with an expletive as the timing of the Safety Car became clear.
The accident was caused by an apparent front-left suspension failure on Bottas’s Cadillac, which crashed into the barriers at Turn 1.
Cadillac confirmed that the Finnish driver exited the car unaided and was taken to the Medical Centre for precautionary examinations.
The red flag subsequently gave Lawson another opportunity to recover, with the Racing Bulls driver restarting the race on relatively fresh tyres.
Late incidents help Lawson complete recovery to ninth
When racing resumed on lap 50, Lawson continued his progress through the field.
The New Zealander climbed to 11th before another incident changed the order.
On lap 59, teammate Arvid Lindblad was involved in a collision with McLaren driver Oscar Piastri at Turn 1.
The impact sent Lindblad’s Racing Bulls into the tyre barriers and triggered another Safety Car.
Lindblad’s retirement promoted Lawson into tenth place, putting him in position to score at least one championship point.
Lawson subsequently gained another position and crossed the finish line ninth, 20.899s behind race winner Verstappen.
The result earned him two points, taking his championship total to 79 and maintaining his position among the top ten drivers in the standings.
The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings place Lawson ninth, while Racing Bulls remains fifth among the constructors.
The race also saw Andrea Kimi Antonelli become Formula 1’s youngest world champion after finishing third behind Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
GRANDE PRÊMIO is following every session of the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend, with breaking news, full coverage and real-time updates in its Formula 1 section.
