{'I could have killed them' - Lawson faces dangerous incident with F1 safety personnel
Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson stated he came dangerously close to a life-threatening collision during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when two safety personnel crossed the track right in his path
The alarming incident took place on the third lap when track officials were observed on the circuit as Lawson was rejoining the race following an premature pit stop to replace his damaged front wing
Competitor's Live Reaction
Shortly afterward, the team's competitor Lawson communicated to his team engineer saying: "Is this for real? Did you just see that? I could have... killed them"
"I honestly couldn't believe what I was witnessing"
"I rejoined with a fresh hard compound tires, and then I arrived at Turn One and suddenly there were two guys running across the track"
"I came close to striking one of them, honestly, it was so dangerous"
Safety Concerns Raised
"Evidently there's been a failure in communication somewhere but I've never encountered that before, and I haven't really seen that in the past. It's pretty unacceptable"
"We cannot comprehend how on a live track safety personnel can be permitted to just sprint across the track in such a way. I don't understand the reason, I'm sure we'll get some sort of explanation, but it really can't happen again"
Official Investigation Underway
F1's overseeing organization, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is thoroughly reviewing the circumstances
"Subsequent to a first corner event, race control was advised that wreckage remained on the track at the apex of that corner" declared the FIA
"During the third lap, track officials were informed and made ready to access the circuit and remove the wreckage once every vehicle had gone by"
"The moment it was realized that Lawson had made a pit stop, the instructions to dispatch marshals were rescinded and a caution signal was displayed in that area"
"Our inquiry continues what transpired subsequent to that time"