{'I could have killed them' - Lawson faces near miss with Formula 1 marshals
Formula 1 competitor Liam Lawson disclosed he narrowly avoided a potentially deadly collision during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when two marshals darted across the track immediately ahead of his car
The dangerous situation occurred on the third circuit when track officials were seen on the track as Lawson was returning to the race following an early pitstop to change his broken nose section
Driver's Immediate Reaction
Shortly afterward, the team's competitor Lawson radioed to his team engineer saying: "You've got to be joking? Did you just see that? I might have... taken their lives"
"I genuinely couldn't process what I was witnessing"
"I came out on a brand new hard tyres, and then I arrived at Turn One and there were just two dudes dashing across the track"
"I came close to striking one of them, frankly, it was extremely hazardous"
Track Safety Questioned
"Clearly there's been a miscommunication at some point but I've never encountered 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 allowed 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"
Official Investigation Underway
Formula 1's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is actively examining the situation
"After an occurrence at turn one, track officials was informed that debris was present on the track at the apex of that corner" commented the governing body
"On lap three, marshals were notified and put on alert to enter the track and clear the fragments once all cars had passed"
"Immediately when it was understood that Lawson had made a pit stop, the orders to send officials were rescinded and a safety warning flag was raised in that area"
"We are still investigating what transpired after that point"