{'I could have killed them' - Lawson experiences dangerous incident with Formula 1 track officials
Formula 1 racer Liam Lawson disclosed he narrowly avoided a potentially deadly accident during Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix when a pair of track officials ran across the track right in his path
The dangerous situation happened on the third circuit when safety workers were spotted on the racing surface as Lawson was getting back on the race following an premature pit stop to replace his broken nose section
Driver's Immediate Reaction
Shortly afterward, Racing Bulls driver Lawson spoke to his race engineer saying: "Is this for real? Did you just see that? I nearly... ended their lives"
"I truly couldn't comprehend what I was seeing"
"I exited on a fresh hard compound tires, and then I approached Turn One and there were just two dudes sprinting across the track"
"I came close to striking one of them, frankly, it was so dangerous"
Safety Concerns Raised
"Clearly there's been a communication breakdown at some point but I've never experienced that before, and I haven't really seen that in the past. It's pretty unacceptable"
"We fail to grasp how on a active circuit track officials can be permitted to just dash across the track like that. I'm clueless about the cause, I'm sure we'll get some kind of clarification, but this must never be repeated"
Formal Inquiry in Progress
Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, is currently investigating the events
"Subsequent to a first corner event, race control was advised that debris was present on the track at the turning point of that curve" commented the FIA
"On lap three, track officials were informed and put on alert to go onto the racing surface and remove the wreckage once all cars had passed"
"As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had made a pit stop, the instructions to dispatch personnel were canceled and a caution signal was raised in that area"
"Our inquiry continues what transpired subsequent to that time"