{'I could have killed them' - Lawson encounters near miss with F1 track officials
Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson disclosed he came dangerously close to a potentially deadly incident during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when two safety personnel darted across the track directly in front of him
The concerning event happened on the third lap when safety workers were spotted on the track as Lawson was returning to the race following an early pitstop to swap his damaged front wing
Racer's Instant Response
Moments later, Racing Bulls driver Lawson spoke to his pit wall engineer saying: "Are you kidding me? Did you just see that? I might have... taken their lives"
"I honestly couldn't believe what I was observing"
"I came out on a fresh hard compound tires, and then I approached Turn One and unexpectedly appeared two individuals running across the track"
"I almost collided with one of them, frankly, it was so dangerous"
Safety Concerns Raised
"Obviously there's been a miscommunication somehow but I've never encountered that before, and I haven't really seen that in the past. It's completely unacceptable"
"We cannot comprehend how on a active circuit track officials can be allowed to just dash across the track in such a way. I'm clueless about the cause, I'm certain we'll get some form of reasoning, but it really can't happen again"
Governing Body Reviewing
F1's overseeing organization, the FIA, is thoroughly reviewing the situation
"After an occurrence at turn one, race control was advised that wreckage remained on the track at the critical section of that bend" declared the regulatory authority
"In the third rotation, safety personnel were notified and placed on standby to access the circuit and recover the debris once every vehicle had gone by"
"As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had entered the pits, the directives to deploy officials were withdrawn and a safety warning flag was displayed in that section"
"We are still investigating what transpired after that point"
