Liam Lawson was forced to retire from Formula One’s Mexican Grand Prix, less than 10 laps at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
The Kiwi had qualified in 15th, but suffered front wing damage in a first lap incident with Williams’ Carlos Sainz. After pitting at the end of lap two for a wing change and a set of hard tyres, Lawson returned to the track.
Four laps later, though, Racing Bulls’ No 30 car headed back to the pits, where he called time on his race due to the damage suffered in that opening tangle.
“It’s obviously crazy going into turn one,” said Lawson post-race. “It was super dusty.
“I had a massive gap on the outside, I left plenty of space in turn one. He decided to cut the chicane, but he didn’t look next to him, because I was right next to him and he drove into the side of me.
“He just destroyed the car. It sucks. We had too much damage to continue.
“I think we were on the right strategy [but] it’s been a tough weekend in general.”
The retirement is Lawson’s fifth “DNF” of the year, after doing the same in Melbourne, Miami, Canada and Great Britain. That leaves the Kiwi with the most DNFs in 2025, one ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
At the front of the grid, Lando Norris converted pole position into his sixth win of the season, and leapfrogged McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to take a one-point lead in the drivers’ championship.
Piastri went from seventh to finish fifth, and fell from the top of the championship for the first time in the last 15 grands prix.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took second, but was fortunate not to be relegated to third after a late charge by Max Verstappen.
The world champion had Leclerc’s measure in the final laps, but a virtual safety car triggered by Sainz retiring on the penultimate lap halted his charge. And while the race resumed, Verstappen did not have enough time to get around the Ferrari.
Haas’ Ollie Bearman was the feel-good story of the day, and claimed a career-best fourth place, having been in contention for his maiden podium.
Leclerc finishing on the podium also saw Ferrari overtake Mercedes into second on the constructors’ championship - the best option available after McLaren sealed the title in Singapore.
Formula One now takes a one-week break, before returning for the Brazilian Grand Prix - including a sprint race - at the start of November.
Being forced to retire comes at the worst possible time for Lawson.
With his future yet to be confirmed beyond the end of this year, Red Bull’s senior adviser Dr Helmut Marko has outlined that this race weekend will be the last the team uses before evaluating its drivers to confirm next season’s pairings.
Lawson, Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda are all yet to learn who they will race for next year.
While Hadjar looms as the likeliest to be promoted to join Verstappen at Red Bull, Lawson and Tsunoda are understood to be vying for a seat at Racing Bulls, along with Formula Two driver Arvid Lindblad.
Complicating the matter is the fact that none of the three have really grabbed the opportunity to impress with both hands.
Just 11 points separate the three drivers in the championship, with Hadjar (39), Lawson (30) and Tsunoda (28) in the bottom half of the standings.
Mexico also saw both Hadjar and Tsunoda fail to score, despite starting eighth and 10th respectively to get home in 13th and 11th. Furthermore, Tsunoda finished 47s behind his teammate.
Lawson is understood to have an upper hand over Tsunoda - who is linked to engine supplier Honda, who leaves Red Bull to join Aston Martin next year.
Speaking at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend, Lawson said he believed he had done enough to keep his seat in 2026.
But whether or not the results of the last three races, where Lawson has not scored a point since a career-best finish of fifth at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, will be seen as Red Bull meet to decide its drivers’ fates.
DID NOT FINISH: Carlos Sainz - Williams, Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin, Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber, Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.