{'I could have killed them' - Lawson encounters close call with Formula 1 safety personnel
Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson revealed he narrowly avoided a life-threatening incident during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when two safety personnel crossed the track right in his path
The alarming incident occurred on the third rotation when marshals were seen on the circuit as Lawson was returning to the race following an quick visit to the pits to change his damaged front wing
Competitor's Live Reaction
Shortly afterward, Racing Bulls driver Lawson communicated to his team engineer saying: "Are you kidding me? Could you believe what happened? I nearly... ended their lives"
"I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing"
"I exited on a new set of hards, and then I arrived at Turn One and suddenly there were two dudes running across the track"
"I nearly hit one of them, frankly, it was extremely hazardous"
Track Safety Questioned
"Clearly there's been a miscommunication somewhere but This is the first time I've faced that before, and I haven't really seen that in the past. It's absolutely inexcusable"
"We can't understand how on a live track safety personnel can be allowed to just run across the track in such a way. I have no idea why, I'm confident we'll get some form of reasoning, but this absolutely cannot recur"
Official Investigation Underway
F1's overseeing organization, the FIA, is actively examining the circumstances
"Following a turn one incident, race control was advised that fragments were located on the track at the critical section of that bend" declared the FIA
"During the third lap, safety personnel were informed and put on alert to go onto the racing surface and remove the wreckage once every vehicle had gone by"
"As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had entered the pits, the instructions to dispatch officials were rescinded and a safety warning flag was raised in that area"
"We are still investigating what transpired subsequent to that time"
