Liam Lawson has been disqualified from the results of qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix following an FIA investigation.

Officials found Lawson’s Racing Bulls had breached technical rules pertaining to the electrical deployment.

Liam Lawson disqualified after technical breach

Lawson progressed to Qualifying 3 where he set the eighth-fastest time, and was set to line up ninth following a one-place grid penalty he acquired after making contact with Max Verstappen in practice.

However, he’ll now be forced to start from the rear of the grid after being excluded from qualifying.

Following qualifying, the team alerted officials to the issue with Lawson’s after it was found not to have ‘stepped down’ its power as defined by the regulations.

That amounted to a technical infringement which, under the regulations, is penalised with a disqualification.

“Evidence submitted, which was accepted by all parties present, showed that after the control line at the end of his fastest lap in Q2, the driver did not lift off the power immediately,” the stewards’ summary noted.

“This resulted in the rate of reduction of MGUK deployment required to achieve the regulated “step down”, not being achieved.

“The team argued that this did not provide any performance advantage however it is clear that non-compliance with the Technical Regulations is not excused if no performance advantage is gained.

“Further, these regulations require that a car must comply with them at all times during an event.

“The Stewards note in particular that the team self-disclosed the breach however there are a multitude of precedents that require us, despite all mitigating circumstances, to impose a penalty of Disqualfication [sic] where a car does not comply with the Technical Regulations.”

How qualifying unfolded in Mexico City

It’s the latest episode in a tumultuous weekend for Lawson after he made contact with Verstappen during Free Practice 2.

The pair engaged in a skirmish over track position in the second hour of running on Friday, for which they were both handed one-place grid penalties and a point on their FIA super licence.

Despite being the standout midfield performer in F1 2026, Lawson’s future remains uncertain with no announcement yet made over whether he’ll remain on the F1 grid next season.