Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen and Racing Bulls\u2019 Liam Lawson have been given grid penalties by the stewards following their \u201cunacceptable\u201d and \u201cclumsy\u201d incident during second practice in Mexico.<\/p>\n
The pair \u2013 having missed FP1 as rookies Ayumu Iwasa and Nikola Tsolov took over their cars \u2013 crossed paths in the early stages of FP2 when Verstappen<\/a> made a move on Lawson<\/a> into Turn 12.<\/p>\n Lawson tried to get back ahead at the following left-hand turn through the stadium section, with Verstappen bouncing over the kerb on the exit and rejoining alongside the New Zealander, causing damage to the Red Bull<\/a>\u2019s floor and Racing Bulls<\/a>\u2019 front wing.<\/p>\n A red flag was thrown to recover the debris, and both drivers picked up their practice programmes \u2013 Verstappen finishing P5 and Lawson P9.<\/p>\n After the session, the stewards reviewed video footage and data, as well as speaking to Verstappen and Lawson, before issuing individual one-place grid drops.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the approach to Turn 12, Car 3 [Verstappen] was on a preparation lap and Car 30 [Lawson] was on a cool down lap preparing for another push lap,\u201d read the stewards\u2019 decision document. \u201cThe drivers of both cars behaved in a manner that was considered unacceptable by the stewards particularly in view of the warning that had been given at the Team Managers meeting earlier this day.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth drivers admitted the moves were unnecessary and \u2018clumsy\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cNoting that there had been similar incidents this year of actions between drivers in Free Practice, the stewards have decided to escalate the penalty from that of a formal warning to a grid position penalty particularly in view of the warning that had been provided at the Team Managers meeting and consistent with other incidents involving contact between the cars in Free Practice in previous years.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking after FP2, Racing Bulls team boss Alan Permane had also used the word \u201cunnecessary\u201d to describe Verstappen and Lawson\u2019s coming together.<\/p>\n