{'I could have killed them' - Lawson experiences close call with Formula 1 marshals
Formula 1 competitor Liam Lawson stated he narrowly avoided a life-threatening accident during Sunday's F1 event in Mexico when two marshals ran across the track immediately ahead of his car
The dangerous situation took place on the third rotation when marshals were spotted on the circuit as Lawson was getting back on the race following an premature pit stop to replace his broken nose section
Racer's Instant Response
Immediately after, Racing Bulls driver Lawson radioed to his team engineer saying: "You've got to be joking? Did you witness that? I could have... killed them"
"I truly couldn't comprehend what I was observing"
"I came out on a fresh hard compound tires, and then I arrived at Turn One and unexpectedly appeared two guys sprinting across the track"
"I came close to striking one of them, honestly, it was extremely hazardous"
Safety Concerns Raised
"Clearly there's been a failure in communication at some point but This is the first time I've faced that before, and I haven't really seen that in the past. It's pretty unacceptable"
"We fail to grasp how on a ongoing race track marshals can be permitted to just sprint 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"
Formal Inquiry in Progress
The sport's regulatory authority, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is thoroughly reviewing the events
"After an occurrence at turn one, track officials was informed that wreckage remained on the track at the turning point of that curve" commented the FIA
"During the third lap, safety personnel were informed and placed on standby to access the circuit and clear the fragments once every vehicle had gone by"
"As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had made a pit stop, the orders to send officials were rescinded and a safety warning flag was displayed in that zone"
"The examination is ongoing what transpired following that moment"