FIA issue statement as F1 star 'could've killed' marshal in shocking Mexican Grand Prix incident

F1 star Liam Lawson was involved in a scary incident during Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix when he nearly hit a safety marshal out on the track.

The incident occurred on lap three of the race, with the marshals on track clearing debris. However, the FIA had not deployed any kind of safety measures or alerted the teams to this, meaning they and their drivers were unaware that there were marshals out on a live track.

In onboard footage from Lawson's car during the race, the Kiwi slowed down as he moved into Turn 1, where he was suddenly confronted with two figures running across the track.

The danger posed by the two marshals out on track was obvious to Lawson, who was rightfully furious and shocked by the situation when reporting back to his team on the radio.

"Mate...Oh my god, are you kidding me? Did you just see that?" he yelled over the airwaves.

FIA issue statement

Following the Mexican GP, a spokesperson from F1’s governing body, the FIA, released a statement and confirmed they are investigating the incident.

The statement read: "Following a Turn 1 incident, race control was informed that debris was present on the track at the apex of that corner.

"On lap three, marshals were alerted and placed on standby to enter the track and recover the debris once all cars had passed Turn 1.

"As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had pitted, the instructions to dispatch marshals were rescinded, and a double yellow flag was shown in that area. We are still investigating what occurred after that point."

The FIA also added their support for the work of the marshals, who are composed of local volunteers during a race weekend.

"We would like to underline our respect and appreciation for the local ASN, OMDAI [Mexico's organising body], as well as the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and their marshals, who are volunteers and play a vital role in the safe and successful running of our sport," the spokesperson continued

"Their professionalism and dedication are invaluable to every event we stage."

Lawson: I couldn't believe what I was seeing

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

"I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing,” he said.

"[I] came out on a new set of hards [tyres], 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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