Liam Lawson has lost his eighth-place qualifying result after a technical infringement that Racing Bulls reported itself. The FIA has allowed him to race, but its provisional grid puts him 22nd.
Liam Lawson’s Mexican Grand Prix has become a recovery mission after he was disqualified from qualifying for a breach of the rules governing electrical power deployment.
The Racing Bulls driver finished Saturday’s session eighth fastest, ahead of teammate Arvid Lindblad. His result has now been removed, and the FIA’s provisional starting grid lists him 22nd and last.
The stewards have separately granted him permission to race.
What went wrong
The infringement occurred just after Lawson crossed the timing line at the end of his fastest Q2 lap.
The case involved the MGU-K, which provides the car’s electrical boost. Regulations limit how quickly its power can be reduced, and the FIA found that the car’s electrical output and maximum power demand dropped faster than permitted.
The stewards said Lawson had not lifted off immediately after crossing the line, and the required controlled reduction in electrical deployment had not been achieved.
His car was found to have breached Articles C5.12.6 and C5.12.7 of the technical regulations.
Racing Bulls reported the breach
Racing Bulls disclosed the problem to officials and argued that it had provided no performance advantage.
The stewards acknowledged that the team had reported the infringement itself. However, they said the car must comply with the technical regulations at all times, and a claimed absence of performance advantage did not excuse the breach.
They ruled that disqualification was required despite the mitigating circumstances.
The decision removed Lawson from the entire qualifying classification.
From a top-ten start to the last row
Lawson was already carrying a one-place grid penalty following his Friday practice incident with Max Verstappen. That had initially left him set to start ninth.
The disqualification now puts him at the back of the provisional grid.
Lindblad remains eighth, while Pierre Gasly moves into ninth and Nico Hülkenberg into tenth.
Racing Bulls still has one car starting inside the top ten. For Lawson, the task has changed from making the most of a strong qualifying position to working his way back toward the points.
