{'I could have killed them' - Lawson encounters near miss with F1 safety personnel
Formula 1 competitor Liam Lawson revealed he came dangerously close to a life-threatening collision during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when a pair of track officials ran across the track directly in front of him
The alarming incident occurred on the third rotation when marshals were observed on the racing surface as Lawson was returning to the race following an premature pit stop to change his compromised front wing
Driver's Immediate Reaction
Moments later, the Formula 1 racer Lawson spoke to his race engineer saying: "Is this for real? Did you witness that? I nearly... ended their lives"
"I truly couldn't comprehend what I was seeing"
"I exited on a brand new hard tyres, and then I arrived at Turn One and suddenly there were two individuals sprinting across the track"
"I nearly hit one of them, honestly, it was extremely hazardous"
Security Issues Highlighted
"Evidently there's been a communication breakdown 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 track officials can be allowed to just run across the track like that. I don't understand the reason, I'm certain we'll get some kind of clarification, but this must never be repeated"
Governing Body Reviewing
Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, is actively examining the situation
"After an occurrence at turn one, race control was informed that debris was present on the track at the apex of that corner" stated the FIA
"In the third rotation, marshals were notified and placed on standby to enter the track and clear the fragments once every vehicle had gone by"
"Immediately when it was understood that Lawson had made a pit stop, the instructions to dispatch personnel were canceled and a safety warning flag was raised in that section"
"The examination is ongoing what occurred subsequent to that time"