{'I could have killed them' - Lawson faces close call with Formula 1 safety personnel
Formula 1 racer Liam Lawson stated he narrowly avoided a potentially deadly collision during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when two safety personnel crossed the track immediately ahead of his car
The concerning event took place on the third lap when marshals were seen on the circuit as Lawson was getting back on the race following an early pitstop to replace his damaged front wing
Driver's Immediate Reaction
Immediately after, the Formula 1 racer Lawson spoke to his race engineer saying: "You've got to be joking? Did you just see that? I could have... killed them"
"I honestly couldn't believe what I was observing"
"I exited on a fresh hard compound tires, and then I arrived at Turn One and suddenly there were two guys sprinting across the track"
"I came close to striking one of them, frankly, it was so dangerous"
Safety Concerns Raised
"Obviously there's been a miscommunication somewhere but I've never experienced that before, and I haven't previously witnessed that in the past. It's pretty unacceptable"
"We cannot comprehend how on a active circuit track officials can be authorized to just dash across the track like that. I'm clueless about the cause, I'm confident we'll get some form of reasoning, but this absolutely cannot recur"
Official Investigation Underway
Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, is currently investigating the situation
"Subsequent to a first corner event, race control was informed that fragments were located on the track at the turning point of that curve" declared the governing body
"On lap three, safety personnel were informed and placed on standby to go onto the racing surface and recover the debris once all cars had passed"
"As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had entered the pits, the instructions to dispatch personnel were rescinded and a double yellow flag was displayed in that section"
"The examination is ongoing what happened subsequent to that time"
