{'I could have killed them' - Lawson experiences near miss with Formula 1 safety personnel
Formula 1 competitor Liam Lawson disclosed he narrowly avoided a potentially deadly accident during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when a pair of track officials darted across the track immediately ahead of his car
The alarming incident occurred on the third circuit when track officials were observed 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
Competitor's Live Reaction
Moments later, Racing Bulls driver Lawson spoke to his team engineer saying: "You've got to be joking? Could you believe what happened? I could have... killed them"
"I genuinely couldn't process what I was observing"
"I exited on a brand new hard tyres, and then I arrived at Turn One and there were just two guys dashing across the track"
"I came close to striking one of them, honestly, it was so dangerous"
Security Issues Highlighted
"Clearly there's been a communication breakdown somehow but I've never experienced that before, and I haven't really seen that in the past. It's absolutely inexcusable"
"We cannot comprehend how on a active circuit safety personnel can be permitted to just run across the track in such a way. I'm clueless about the cause, I'm certain we'll get some kind of clarification, but it really can't happen again"
Formal Inquiry in Progress
Formula 1's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is actively examining the situation
"Subsequent to a first corner event, the race directors was notified that wreckage remained on the track at the critical section of that bend" commented the FIA
"In the third rotation, safety personnel were alerted and put on alert to go onto the racing surface and clear the fragments once the entire field had cleared the area"
"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 displayed in that area"
"We are still investigating what occurred following that moment"
