{'I could have killed them' - Lawson experiences near miss with Formula 1 safety personnel

Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson disclosed he narrowly avoided a life-threatening accident during Sunday's F1 event in Mexico when two safety personnel ran across the track directly in front of him

The dangerous situation occurred on the third lap when track officials were seen on the racing surface as Lawson was getting back on the race following an early pitstop to swap his compromised front wing

Driver's Immediate Reaction

Shortly afterward, the team's competitor Lawson spoke to his pit wall engineer saying: "Is this for real? Did you witness that? I nearly... ended their lives"

"I truly couldn't comprehend 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 individuals running across the track"

"I almost collided with one of them, frankly, it was extremely hazardous"

Security Issues Highlighted

"Obviously there's been a failure in communication somewhere but This is the first time I've faced that before, and I haven't previously witnessed that in the past. It's completely unacceptable"

"We fail to grasp how on a ongoing race track track officials can be allowed to just dash across the track in such a way. I'm clueless about the cause, I'm sure we'll get some kind of clarification, but it really can't happen again"

Formal Inquiry in Progress

F1's overseeing organization, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is currently investigating the events

"Subsequent to a first corner event, the race directors was informed that debris was present on the track at the apex of that corner" commented the FIA

"On lap three, track officials were alerted and placed on standby to access the circuit and remove the wreckage once the entire field had cleared the area"

"Immediately when it was understood that Lawson had entered the pits, the orders to send officials were rescinded and a safety warning flag was shown in that area"

"The examination is ongoing what happened subsequent to that time"