FIA issued 'calm down' warning before ill-tempered Verstappen-Lawson clash

Karun Chandhok has revealed that the FIA explicitly told team principals to rein in their drivers during free practice hours before Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson collided in FP2 at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The two collided at Turn 14 when Verstappen, who had gone off the edge of the track, rejoined and made contact with Lawson's front wing, triggering a red flag at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Both drivers were subsequently handed a one-place grid penalty and a penalty point.

Speaking on Sky Sports F1, Chandhok explained the chain of events that led to the clash.

"Now we heard his [Max's] engineer telling him to get ahead of Liam, to get track position ahead of Liam... So that's what Max is trying to do," he said.

"When they get down to this hairpin, Liam has clearly decided he's in no mood to let Max pass. So he comes back down the inside... And I think this has annoyed Max because he thought, 'Well, I'm now in front. You should get out of the way.' Max opts to go beyond the edge of the track... and then sort of just barges into Liam as they come through the right-hander.

"So, the whole thing, in my opinion, just feels a bit unnecessary and a bit clumsy for FP2."

Stewards' warning

Chandhok went on to reveal that stewards had gathered all 11 team bosses that same morning to issue a direct warning over driver conduct in practice sessions.

He also referred to the Esteban Ocon flashpoint that ultimately culminated in the Frenchman being stood down for the weekend at Haas, after a disagreement that stemmed from when the Haas driver vented his frustration over team radio to race engineer Laura Mueller after his run plan was switched from soft to medium tyres.

Haas subsequently withdrew Ocon from the remainder of the weekend, with reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa stepping in, though the team has offered no formal explanation for the decision beyond confirming it was not due to illness.

"I get that in Esteban Ocon's situation, you're trying to get information, you're trying to do the learning, but there's got to be a time and place for this level of aggression," Chandhok added.

"Now, the reason I should point out why they have been penalised. Because in the past we've seen drivers not be penalised for free practice incidents.

"But [on Friday] morning, all of the team managers, 11 team managers, were in a meeting with the stewards, who told them, 'Ask your drivers to behave in free practice.'

"We've seen a few too many incidents in the recent races; we saw Leclerc and George, for example, in Austin, and the stewards have said, 'Look, we're going to start penalising people if they don't behave in free practice.'

"And I think that's why both of these drivers have got that one-place penalty. And really, they both played a part in the way that played out. Although you could say, Max went off the track and barged into him there..."