Max Verstappen has taken a jibe at Liam Lawson following their collision during the second practice session at the 2026 Mexico City GP. After the Friday session, the four-time world champion said that the Racing Bulls driver should “act a little smarter” as he fights to secure his place in Red Bull’s sister team.
“Maybe not very smart behaviour what he was trying to do there,” Verstappen said about the incident with Lawson in a media pen interview.
“At the end of the day it is not going to change my weekend, but if I were him I would act a little smarter, and when you’re fighting for your seat it’s not very smart behaviour.”
Lawson is competing in his second season with Racing Bulls. He is fighting for his 2027 spot against two other drivers – current teammate Arvid Lindblad and Bulgarian Formula 2 front-runner Nikola Tsolov. Racing Bulls has yet to announce its two-driver lineup for next year, with three drivers competing for two available seats.
Watch: Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson Wheel-To-Wheel Action in FP2
Verstappen and Lawson clashed at Turn 14 in the stadium section at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, with the two cars hitting each other side-on after running through three corners side by side.
Watch the video here:
The clash resulted in both receiving one-place grid penalties for Sunday’s Mexico GP after stewards found both drivers accountable for the wheel-to-wheel collision.
“The drivers of both cars behaved in a manner that was considered unacceptable by the stewards,” FIA stewards said in a statement. “Both drivers admitted the moves were unnecessary and ‘clumsy’.”
The collision caused significant damage to Verstappen’s RB22, forcing Red Bull to replace the floor for Saturday’s FP3.
Max Verstappen Questions Lawson’s Intentions
The Red Bull star was unimpressed with Lawson’s actions in Mexico, suggesting the New Zealander unnecessarily escalated the situation.
Explaining his version of events, Max Verstappen said Lawson accelerated after noticing him approaching, leaving him confused about the Racing Bulls driver’s intentions.
“When he saw me coming, he suddenly started to accelerate,” Verstappen said. “I don’t know what was going through his head, that he wanted to drive me off the track in the hairpin.
“That’s not very sensible behaviour from someone in his position, to pick a fight with me.”
Lawson and Verstappen were teammates for the first two races of the 2025 season before the New Zealander was dropped back to Racing Bulls after disappointing performances. He again drove the Red Bull alongside Verstappen for three races this year as a substitute for an injured Isack Hadjar, who broke his wrist during a boxing workout session.
Max Verstappen continued running with the damaged car, suffering a loss of downforce and finishing fifth in FP2. Lawson finished the session in ninth.
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