Lawson faces fresh Mexico GP blow after technical breach identified
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Kieran is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs and feature content across the F1 calendar. An NQJ-qualified journalist with more than a decade of experience, he has previously written for publications including MailOnline, the Manchester Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.
Liam Lawson faces further uncertainty over his starting position after a technical breach was identified during qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
The Racing Bulls driver qualified eighth, but is set to start ninth after both he and Max Verstappen were handed one-place grid penalties for their contact in FP2.
A technical document has now flagged a separate issue involving the electrical power deployment on Lawson’s car during Q2. According to the report, the breach occurred just after Lawson crossed the line on his fastest lap of the session at 15:47:36.
“Car 30, driver Liam Lawson, was in breach of the minimum MGU-K power requirement just after crossing the line on his fastest lap in Q2 at 15:47:36,” the document stated.
“This is a breach of Articles C5.12.6 and C5.12.7. 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.”
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Lawson already carrying grid penalty
Any further sanction could compound Lawson’s existing setback, with his eighth-place qualifying result already subject to the one-place grid drop imposed for his contact with Verstappen.
The stewards in their verdict on the collision wrote: "On the approach to turn 12 car 3 was on a preparation lap and car 30 was on a cool down lap preparing for another push lap.
"The 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. Both drivers admitted the moves were unnecessary and “clumsy”.
"Noting 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."
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Speaking on Saturday, Lawson revealed that he had apologised to Verstappen following their collision.
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