Liam Lawson 'blamed' for nearly running over F1 marshals after Mexican GP investigation

Racing Bulls star Liam Lawson has had the blame placed at his door by an official statement, following an investigation into a scary incident at the Mexican Grand Prix.

During Sunday's race, the New Zealander rounded the Turns 1, 2 and 3 section of the track after coming out of the pits on lap three to find marshals working to clear away debris left by his contact with Carlos Sainz.

Lawson proclaimed "I could've killed them" on team radio, and the FIA have confirmed that they are investigating the incident to see what could have been done to better protect the marshals.

Now, however, a statement has come from Mexico's motorsport federation (OMDAI) following their own investigation, with a three-page document largely assigning the blame to Lawson.

OMDAI have gone through the events that led to the incident in detail, as well as providing screenshots of onboard footage, and information on where there were yellow flags, and where the circuit was green, meaning racers could go at full speed.

The statement read: "The Racing Bulls team informed the driver that there was debris on the track and that this section was under a double yellow flag, so that he should take extreme precautions when driving through the area.

"Therefore, at that moment, the driver had to significantly reduce his speed, refrain from overtaking, and be prepared to stop if necessary, in compliance with current safety regulations.

"The images clearly show that driver Liam Lawson maintains the steering wheel angle of his car when taking Turn 1, without changing his trajectory, even though the track marshals were crossing the track to return to their post.

"This action occurs while personnel were still working in the area, which shows that the driver did not interrupt his line despite the obvious presence of marshals on the track."

The rather damning OMDAI statement is understood to be completely separate to any further communication from F1's official governing body on the incident, which is expected at the conclusion of their investigation.

Lawson's response to Mexican GP marshals

Speaking to the media after the race, Lawson was clearly outraged at the breakdown in communication at the Mexican GP and hoped that a similar situation would not occur in the future.

"I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing," he said. "Came out on a new set of hards, and then I got to Turn 1 and there were just two dudes running across the track. I nearly hit one of them, honestly, it was so dangerous.

"Obviously there's been a miscommunication somewhere but I've never experienced that before, and I haven't really seen that in the past. It's pretty unacceptable.

"We can't understand how on a live track marshals can be allowed to just run across the track like that. I have no idea why, I'm sure we'll get some sort of explanation, but it really can't happen again."

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