Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies and Racing Bulls chief Alan Permane have offered their verdicts on Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson’s crash in FP2 at the F1 Mexico City GP.

Tensions erupted within the Red Bull camp on Friday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, after Verstappen and Lawson came to blows during the second practice session. Their crash has also seen both drivers merit one-place grid-drop penalties for Sunday’s Mexico City GP.

The FIA’s race stewards felt Verstappen and Lawson were both at fault for their collision, and noted that they thought the Dutchman and the Kiwi both acted in an “unacceptable” way as neither was actually on a flying lap. Verstappen was coming to the end of a warm-up lap and Lawson was preparing for another flying run after a cooldown lap when they came to blows.

Laurent Mekies and Alan Permane brand Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson’s FP2 crash ‘unacceptable’

Tensions even continued to surface after FP2 on Friday, after Verstappen accused Lawson of not being “smart” in their collision in Mexico City. The Red Bull man implied that the Racing Bulls star was wrong to have tried to maintain track position over him, especially given that the 25-year-old is currently keen to convince Red Bull to let him stay at Racing Bulls in 2027.

It can very easily be argued that Verstappen was the driver predominantly at fault, though, especially for the actual contact with Lawson during FP2 at the Mexico City GP. Verstappen refused to accept that Lawson did not want to yield track position at Turn 12, so went into the run-off after being taken wide at Turn 13 and jumped across the inside kerb at Turn 14.

Red Bull CEO and team principal Mekies is adamant that both Verstappen and Lawson were at fault for their crash during FP2 and resulting grid penalties for the Mexico City GP. Mekies believes their collision was particularly “unnecessary” given that neither was on a flying lap.

“Neither of them is on a fast lap,” Mekies told Sky Sports Germany. “It looks completely unnecessary. Something like that shouldn’t happen.”

Racing Bulls team principal Permane agrees with Red Bull counterpart Mekies that Lawson and Verstappen’s collision during FP2 at the Mexico City GP was “unnecessary” on both of their parts. The incident now ensures they will both carry the consequences into the race.

Permane said, via Fox Sports Australia: “I think one word, unnecessary. In a practice session, completely unnecessary, and I say that for both of them. It’s just not needed, and they can both do better.”

Lawson would not offer a reply to Verstappen’s verbal assault, or Mekies and Permane both directing the blame at both drivers, as the 25-year-old did not speak to the media on Friday.

The Kiwi will likely feel the most aggrieved at the stewards’ decision to slap him with a one-place grid penalty for the Mexico City GP, however. Lawson arguably did very little wrong, if at all, especially as Verstappen caused the contact between them by re-joining the circuit in an unsafe manner as emotions got the better of him when the Kiwi did not just move aside.

Verstappen caught Lawson preparing for a push lap into Turn 12 as the latter was not trying to force his way past the slow-moving Williams of Carlos Sainz ahead of the stadium sector.

Unlike Lawson, Verstappen wasted no time before trying to get ahead under braking so that his next flying lap would not be disturbed by following another car. But Lawson did not take Verstappen’s decision on the chin, so cleanly held the inside line into Turn 13 so that he was ahead for his next flying lap – which the Red Bull driver did not like, and drove into the Kiwi.