{'I could have killed them' - Lawson encounters near miss with Formula 1 safety personnel
Formula 1 competitor Liam Lawson stated he narrowly avoided a potentially deadly collision during Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix when two safety personnel darted across the track directly in front of him
The concerning event took place on the third rotation when marshals were spotted on the racing surface as Lawson was getting back on the race following an quick visit to the pits to swap his broken nose section
Racer's Instant Response
Moments later, Racing Bulls driver Lawson spoke to his pit wall engineer saying: "Is this for real? Did you just see that? I might have... taken their lives"
"I genuinely couldn't process what I was seeing"
"I rejoined with a new set of hards, and then I got to Turn One and unexpectedly appeared two guys sprinting across the track"
"I almost collided with one of them, frankly, it was so dangerous"
Security Issues Highlighted
"Evidently there's been a miscommunication somewhere but I've never experienced that before, and I haven't previously witnessed that in the past. It's pretty unacceptable"
"We can't understand how on a active circuit safety personnel can be permitted to just dash across the track in that manner. I have no idea why, I'm certain we'll get some form of reasoning, but this absolutely cannot recur"
Formal Inquiry in Progress
The sport's regulatory authority, the FIA, is currently investigating the situation
"Subsequent to a first corner event, the race directors was advised that fragments were located on the track at the turning point of that curve" stated the regulatory authority
"In the third rotation, safety personnel were informed and placed on standby to enter the track and remove the wreckage once every vehicle had gone by"
"Immediately when it was understood that Lawson had entered the pits, the directives to deploy marshals were canceled and a safety warning flag was raised in that zone"
"We are still investigating what transpired after that point"
