The FIA has launched an investigation into the marshal incident that occurred in the opening rounds of the Mexico City Grand Prix. The organization announced this on Monday. Liam Lawson got the fright of his life when he suddenly saw two marshals running across the track, right in front of his Racing Bulls car. Over the team radio, he expressed his disbelief and emphasized that a collision could have had fatal consequences.
Footage from Lawson’s car shows the New Zealander having to brake hard to avoid the crossing marshals. “Oh my god, is this a joke?” he exclaimed over the team radio. “I could have killed them.” After the race, he lashed out at the race direction in the media. “Honestly, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he stated. “I was going into the first corner on new hard tires, and suddenly there were two marshals running across the track. I almost hit one of them – it was really life-threatening.”
FIA Investigates What Happened
The Racing Bulls driver explained that he had never experienced anything like this before. “Of course, there was a misunderstanding,” he continued. “But this has never happened to me before, and I’ve actually never seen anything like it. It’s just unacceptable. I can’t understand how two marshals can just run onto the track in the middle of a race. There will probably be an explanation, but this really must never happen again.”
The FIA issued a statement not long after. “After an incident in the first corner, race control was informed that there was debris on the track at the apex,” the organization said. “In the third lap, the marshals were alerted and prepared to enter the track and remove the debris as soon as all cars had passed. When it became clear that Liam Lawson had made a pit stop, the instructions to the marshals were withdrawn and double yellow flags were waved. We are still investigating what exactly happened afterwards.”
