{'I could have killed them' - Lawson encounters close call with Formula 1 safety personnel
Formula 1 racer Liam Lawson disclosed he barely escaped a life-threatening collision during Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix when two safety personnel ran across the track right in his path
The concerning event took place on the third circuit when marshals were observed on the track as Lawson was getting back on the race following an quick visit to the pits to change his broken nose section
Racer's Instant Response
Shortly afterward, the Formula 1 racer Lawson communicated to his pit wall engineer saying: "Are you kidding me? Did you just see that? I could have... killed them"
"I genuinely couldn't process what I was seeing"
"I exited on a new set of hards, and then I got to Turn One and suddenly there were two individuals dashing across the track"
"I nearly hit one of them, truthfully, it was incredibly risky"
Track Safety Questioned
"Obviously there's been a failure in communication somewhere but I've never encountered that before, and I can't recall observing that in the past. It's absolutely inexcusable"
"We cannot comprehend how on a ongoing race track track officials can be permitted to just run across the track in that manner. I don't understand the reason, I'm sure we'll get some kind of clarification, but it really can't happen again"
Governing Body Reviewing
The sport's regulatory authority, the global motorsport federation, is actively examining the events
"After an occurrence at turn one, race control was notified that wreckage remained on the track at the apex of that corner" stated the FIA
"On lap three, safety personnel were informed and placed on standby to access the circuit and remove the wreckage once all cars had passed"
"Immediately when it was understood that Lawson had entered the pits, the orders to send marshals were withdrawn and a safety warning flag was shown in that section"
"We are still investigating what happened subsequent to that time"