Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane has defended Liam Lawson after Max Verstappen criticized him over a Friday collision at the Mexico City GP. Permane dismissed the idea that his driver was looking to cause trouble for the four-time world champion.
Asked to sum up the clash in second practice at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Permane settled on one word. “I think if I describe it in one word, it’s just ‘unnecessary,’” he said.
The stewards saw it the same way. They gave Verstappen and Lawson a one-place grid penalty and a penalty point each, and noted that both drivers had called the move clumsy and unnecessary.
Max Verstappen Takes Aim at Lawson’s Judgment
The trouble started early in the second practice session, when Max Verstappen tried to dive down the inside of Lawson at Turn 12, a tight right-hander. Lawson stayed on the outside; the two cars touched at Turn 14, and the Red Bull’s left-side bodywork shattered across the track. The debris brought out a red flag.
Lawson sounded furious on the team radio. “He literally just drove into me. Every weekend he plays this game,” he said.
Verstappen didn’t hold back when Sky Sports F1 asked whether the incident was just bad luck. “Also, when you’re fighting for your seat, it’s not very smart behaviour,” the Dutch driver said. That was a particularly harsh jab because Lawson still doesn’t know where he’ll race next year.
Verstappen also gave reporters his side of the story. “I was on a fast out lap because I had some little issues,” he said, meaning he was in the middle of a quick lap to get ready for a push. He added that Lawson sped up once he saw him coming, and he couldn’t work out why Lawson would try to run him off the track.
Racing Bulls Back Their Driver as Penalties Land
When reporters asked Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane about Verstappen’s view, he said that wasn’t the case. He expects both drivers to calm down, look back and admit they could have done better, and he insisted nobody was picking a fight with anyone. It was a firm vote of confidence for a driver who has a lot riding on this weekend.
The stewards decided to “escalate the penalty from that of a formal warning,” according to The Race, because teams had already been warned at a managers’ meeting earlier Friday. Neither driver got off lightly for a practice-session scrap.
Lawson currently sits ninth in the drivers’ standings with 77 points. He has scored 63 of those with Racing Bulls. His contract with the Red Bull sister team runs out at the end of 2026.
Racing Bulls still hasn’t officially confirmed its 2027 drivers, although it is believed that Arvid Lindblad is set to get an extension. Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov is among the contenders for one of the seats. Tsolov, 19, drove Lawson’s car in first practice.
Permane had previously called Lawson’s United States Grand Prix a “perfect weekend,” and said the team’s decision should come in the coming weeks.
Lawson says he is not letting the uncertainty weigh on him, calling it “not really worth me thinking or worrying about.” He still finished second practice ninth. For Sunday’s race, he and Verstappen will each start one place lower than they qualify, and Racing Bulls still owes Lawson an answer on 2027.
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