{'I could have killed them' - Lawson faces close call with Formula 1 track officials
Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson revealed he barely escaped a potentially fatal incident during Sunday's F1 event in Mexico when a pair of track officials crossed the track right in his path
The concerning event took place on the third rotation when safety workers were seen on the circuit as Lawson was getting back on the race following an premature pit stop to swap his compromised 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? Could you believe what happened? I nearly... ended their lives"
"I genuinely couldn't process what I was observing"
"I came out on a brand new hard tyres, and then I got to Turn One and unexpectedly appeared two guys sprinting across the track"
"I came close to striking one of them, frankly, it was extremely hazardous"
Safety Concerns Raised
"Evidently there's been a failure in communication at some point but I've never experienced that before, and I can't recall observing that in the past. It's absolutely inexcusable"
"We can't understand how on a ongoing race track marshals can be authorized to just run across the track in such a way. I have no idea why, I'm confident we'll get some sort of explanation, but this absolutely cannot recur"
Governing Body Reviewing
The sport's regulatory authority, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is thoroughly reviewing the circumstances
"Following a turn one incident, track officials was informed that wreckage remained on the track at the critical section of that bend" stated the FIA
"In the third rotation, safety personnel were alerted and made ready to access the circuit and recover the debris once every vehicle had gone by"
"As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had made a pit stop, the directives to deploy officials were rescinded and a caution signal was shown in that zone"
"Our inquiry continues what occurred following that moment"
