{'I could have killed them' - Lawson faces close call with F1 marshals
Formula 1 racer Liam Lawson stated he came dangerously close to a potentially fatal accident during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when two safety personnel crossed the track directly in front of him
The dangerous situation happened on the third circuit when marshals were spotted on the racing surface as Lawson was rejoining the race following an premature pit stop to replace his damaged front wing
Racer's Instant Response
Shortly afterward, the Formula 1 racer Lawson communicated to his race engineer saying: "You've got to be joking? Did you just see that? I could have... killed them"
"I genuinely couldn't process what I was witnessing"
"I rejoined with a brand new hard tyres, and then I got to Turn One and there were just two dudes running across the track"
"I almost collided with one of them, honestly, it was extremely hazardous"
Track Safety Questioned
"Clearly there's been a miscommunication somewhere but I've never encountered that before, and I can't recall observing that in the past. It's completely unacceptable"
"We cannot comprehend how on a live track marshals can be authorized to just sprint across the track in such a way. I have no idea why, I'm certain we'll get some kind of clarification, but it really can't happen again"
Formal Inquiry in Progress
The sport's regulatory authority, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is thoroughly reviewing the events
"Subsequent to a first corner event, race control was notified that fragments were located on the track at the critical section of that bend" commented the FIA
"During the third lap, marshals were notified and made ready to enter the track and remove the wreckage once the entire field had cleared the area"
"As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had entered the pits, the instructions to dispatch officials were canceled and a caution signal was raised in that zone"
"Our inquiry continues what happened subsequent to that time"
