Liam Lawson said it was “unacceptable” that two marshals were on track when he approached at racing speed early in the Mexico City Grand Prix.
The Racing Bulls driver suffered damage to his front wing and pitted at the end of the second lap when debris was reported in Turn 1. When Lawson left the pits, he encountered two marshals in the center of the circuit between Turns 1 and 2 and had to take evasive action, even though the race was still being broadcast live.
“Honestly, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Lawson said. “I went into the box and came out with a new hard set and when I got to Turn 1 there were only two people running across the track. To be honest, I almost hit one of them. It was very dangerous.”
“Obviously there was a miscommunication somewhere, but I’ve never experienced anything like that before, and I’ve never really seen anything like it in the past. This is completely unacceptable. I don’t understand why marshals would be allowed to run across the track like that on a live track. I don’t know why. I’m sure we’ll get some explanation, but something like this really can’t happen again.”
Lawson’s team radio at the time explained the extent of his shock:
Lawson: “Wait, son of a bitch, what the hell are you kidding?! Did you just see that?”
engineer: “Yes, I saw it.”
Lawson: “Oh my god, dude.”
engineer“Oh, you did a good job of avoiding me.”
Lawson: “You could have killed them, dude.”
The FIA said marshals were lining up to remove debris as the field became crowded, but the race was called off after Lawson pitted and fell behind.
“Following the Turn 1 incident, race control was advised of the presence of debris on the track at the apex of the corner,” an FIA statement said. “On the third lap, the marshals were alerted and stood by, and after all cars had passed Turn 1, they entered the track to collect the debris.
“As soon as it became clear that Lawson had pitted, the marshal order was rescinded and double yellow flags were displayed in the area. What happened next is still under investigation.”
The FIA also explained why the virtual safety car period was short at the end of the race after Carlos Sainz stopped, briefly suspending the battle for position on the penultimate and final laps.
“On lap 70, Sainz spun and came to a stop in the outside run-off area of Turn 14. His car came to rest in an exposed position. The car then began to smoke and race control received notification of a fire and it was clear that recovery would require the intervention of marshals. As is standard procedure when marshals are called out to recover a car, the race was disabled and in this case the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was activated. The car was moved to a safe location behind the fence. As soon as the car was in its protected position, the VSC was terminated and the race ended under green flag conditions.