Lawson made it through to Qualifying 2 in his Racing Bulls but could do no better than 15th in the second segment.
His 1:27.363s proved almost two-tenths slower than Jack Doohan in 14th, and less than a tenth better than he’d managed in Qualifying 1.
Isack Hadjar in the other Racing Bulls improved by the better part of four-tenths in Qualifying 2 as he fell just short of a Q3 berth.
“I have no idea what the actual issue was,” Lawson said when asked about the battery problem.
“We were just dropping power through the run, trying to fight it and fix it.
“I don’t know what the issue is but it’s just frustrating.”
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Hadjar’s pace suggested more was possible had Lawson had a clear run through the qualifying hour.
“I felt good,” he said.
“We made a really good step with the car balance as well today.
“Just a shame. Just a shame that something like this is costing us.
“Obviously we had a strong Sprint race, so we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Lawson raced his way into a points-paying position during the Miami GP Sprint, his first such result of the season.
However, a clash with Fernando Alonso in the closing stages left the Aston Martin driver in the wall and saw the Kiwi handed a five-second post-race penalty.
Lawson qualified 15th for the Sprint race but charged his way up to ninth by Lap 3.
That became eighth once Alonso crashed out, and he was provisionally classified seventh after Max Verstappen copped a 10-second time penalty at the end of the shortened 18-lap encounter.
However, with pack bunched as the race ended under Safety Car, his penalty proved enough to drop him from seventh place, and two championship points, to 13th.
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