{'I could have killed them' - Lawson experiences close call with F1 safety personnel
Formula 1 competitor Liam Lawson revealed he came dangerously close to a potentially fatal incident during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when two safety personnel darted across the track immediately ahead of his car
The dangerous situation occurred on the third circuit when marshals were spotted on the circuit as Lawson was rejoining the race following an premature pit stop to replace his damaged front wing
Driver's Immediate Reaction
Moments later, Racing Bulls driver Lawson radioed to his team engineer saying: "Are you kidding me? Could you believe what happened? I nearly... ended their lives"
"I genuinely couldn't process what I was witnessing"
"I came out on a new set of hards, and then I arrived at Turn One and unexpectedly appeared two guys running across the track"
"I nearly hit one of them, frankly, it was extremely hazardous"
Track Safety Questioned
"Obviously there's been a communication breakdown somehow but This is the first time I've faced that before, and I haven't previously witnessed that in the past. It's absolutely inexcusable"
"We cannot comprehend how on a live track marshals can be authorized to just dash across the track in such a way. I don't understand the reason, I'm sure we'll get some sort of explanation, but it really can't happen again"
Formal Inquiry in Progress
The sport's regulatory authority, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is currently investigating the events
"After an occurrence at turn one, race control was informed that wreckage remained on the track at the apex of that corner" commented the FIA
"During the third lap, track officials were notified and made ready to enter the track and remove the wreckage once every vehicle had gone by"
"Immediately when it was understood that Lawson had entered the pits, the orders to send officials were rescinded and a safety warning flag was raised in that section"
"The examination is ongoing what happened following that moment"