Lawson Disqualified from Mexican GP Qualifying Over Technical Infraction

Liam Lawson has been disqualified from the Mexican Grand Prix qualifying session following a technical infringement. The incident occurred just after he completed his final lap in Q2.

The FIA technical delegate, Jo Bauer, stated that Lawson’s car lost all electric power deployment too suddenly, violating the rules on how the MGU-K should fade out.

The MGU-K, which adds 350kW to the engine, must fade out gradually, no more than 50kW or 100kW per second, depending on the track. A sudden drop was not permitted.

Lawson’s team, Racing Bulls, argued there was no performance benefit to the breach, but the stewards ruled that non-compliance with regulations cannot be excused regardless of performance impact.

The team previously used a failsafe mode to instantly cut the MGU-K to 0kW, though this led to cars slowing or stopping on track. A later workaround involved reducing power when driver demand and ICE power were negative.

Lawson did not lift off the throttle quickly enough on his final lap, leading to a negative driver power demand that was not achieved, resulting in the penalty.