{'I could have killed them' - Lawson encounters close call with F1 marshals
Formula 1 competitor Liam Lawson disclosed he came dangerously close to a potentially fatal collision during Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix when two safety personnel crossed the track immediately ahead of his car
The concerning event took place on the third rotation when safety workers were seen on the racing surface as Lawson was returning to the race following an premature pit stop to swap his compromised front wing
Racer's Instant Response
Moments later, Racing Bulls driver Lawson spoke to his race engineer saying: "Is this for real? Did you just see that? I could have... killed them"
"I genuinely couldn't process what I was observing"
"I came out on a brand new hard tyres, and then I arrived at Turn One and there were just two guys running across the track"
"I almost collided with one of them, truthfully, it was so dangerous"
Track Safety Questioned
"Clearly there's been a miscommunication at some point but I've never encountered that before, and I can't recall observing that in the past. It's completely unacceptable"
"We fail to grasp how on a ongoing race track safety personnel can be authorized to just sprint across the track in such a way. I don't understand the reason, I'm certain we'll get some kind of clarification, but it really can't happen again"
Official Investigation Underway
F1's overseeing organization, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is actively examining the circumstances
"Subsequent to a first corner event, track officials was informed that debris was present on the track at the apex of that corner" stated the regulatory authority
"In the third rotation, marshals were informed and put on alert to enter the track and remove the wreckage once every vehicle had gone by"
"As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had entered the pits, the directives to deploy personnel were withdrawn and a double yellow flag was displayed in that area"
"Our inquiry continues what transpired after that point"
