Liam Lawson was forced to retire from Formula One’s Mexican Grand Prix, less than 10 laps into Monday’s race.

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 first lap tangle.

This 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.

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 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 Max 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.

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 enoughto keep his seat in 2026.

• 'I just struggled': Qualifying mistakes see Lawson start 15th in Mexico
• Lawson survives chaotic start for top 10 finish in Austin sprint race

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.

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.