{'I could have killed them' - Lawson encounters near miss with F1 track officials

Formula 1 racer Liam Lawson stated he narrowly avoided a life-threatening accident during Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix when two safety personnel ran across the track immediately ahead of his car

The alarming incident took place on the third rotation when safety workers were seen on the track as Lawson was returning to the race following an premature pit stop to swap his damaged front wing

Competitor's Live Reaction

Shortly afterward, Racing Bulls driver Lawson spoke to his pit wall engineer saying: "Are you kidding me? Did you just see that? I nearly... ended their lives"

"I genuinely couldn't process what I was seeing"

"I rejoined with a fresh hard compound tires, and then I got to Turn One and suddenly there were two guys running across the track"

"I nearly hit one of them, honestly, it was incredibly risky"

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 completely unacceptable"

"We cannot comprehend how on a active circuit safety personnel can be permitted to just dash across the track like that. I'm clueless about the cause, I'm certain we'll get some sort of explanation, but this absolutely cannot recur"

Official Investigation Underway

Formula 1's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is actively examining the situation

"After an occurrence at turn one, the race directors was notified that fragments were located on the track at the turning point of that curve" declared the FIA

"In the third rotation, safety personnel were alerted and made ready to enter the track and recover the debris once the entire field had cleared the area"

"Immediately when it was understood that Lawson had pitted, the orders to send officials were rescinded and a caution signal was displayed in that zone"

"The examination is ongoing what happened following that moment"