{'I could have killed them' - Lawson experiences dangerous incident with F1 safety personnel
Formula 1 competitor Liam Lawson stated he came dangerously close to a potentially deadly collision during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when two safety personnel crossed the track right in his path
The concerning event happened on the third circuit when marshals were seen on the racing surface as Lawson was rejoining the race following an early pitstop to change his damaged front wing
Racer's Instant Response
Immediately after, the Formula 1 racer Lawson radioed to his team engineer saying: "You've got to be joking? Did you witness that? I might have... taken their lives"
"I genuinely couldn't process what I was seeing"
"I came out on a new set of hards, and then I got to Turn One and unexpectedly appeared two dudes running across the track"
"I nearly hit one of them, frankly, it was extremely hazardous"
Security Issues Highlighted
"Obviously there's been a communication breakdown somewhere but I've never encountered that before, and I haven't previously witnessed that in the past. It's absolutely inexcusable"
"We fail to grasp how on a live track safety personnel can be authorized to just run across the track in such a way. I have no idea why, I'm certain we'll get some sort of explanation, but this must never be repeated"
Official Investigation Underway
Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, is actively examining the situation
"Following a turn one incident, track officials was informed that debris was present on the track at the critical section of that bend" commented the regulatory authority
"In the third rotation, safety personnel were alerted and put on alert to access the circuit and clear the fragments once every vehicle had gone by"
"The moment it was realized that Lawson had entered the pits, the directives to deploy officials were withdrawn and a safety warning flag was shown in that area"
"Our inquiry continues what occurred subsequent to that time"