Liam Lawson says it is “unacceptable” that there were two marshals on track as he approached race speed early in the Mexico City Grand Prix.
The Racing Bulls driver suffered front wing damage and entered the pits at the end of the second lap when debris was reported in Turn 1. While leaving the pits, Lawson encountered two marshals in the middle of the circuit between Turn 1 and Turn 2, despite the race still being live, and had to take evasive action.
“I honestly couldn’t believe what I saw,” Lawson said. “Boxed, came out on a new set of hards, and then I got to Turn 1 and there were only two guys running around the track. To be honest, I almost hit one of them. It was so dangerous.”
“Obviously there’s been a miscommunication somewhere, but I’ve never seen that before and I haven’t really seen that in the past. It’s quite unacceptable. We can’t understand how marshals on a live track can just run around the track. I have no idea why. I’m sure we’ll get some sort of explanation, but it really can’t happen again.”
Lawson’s team radio at the time explained the extent of his shock:
Lawson: “Wait, fuck, oh my God, are you kidding me?! Did you just see that?”
Engineer: “Yes, I saw it.”
Lawson: “Oh my God, dude.”
Engineer: “Yes, good job avoiding them.”
Lawson: “I could have fucking killed them, buddy.”
The FIA says the marshals were lining up to clear the debris when the field was full, but canceled the call when Lawson pitted to get behind the rest of the pack.
“Following an incident in Turn 1, Race Control was informed that there was debris on the track at the apex of that corner,” an FIA statement said. “On lap three, the Marshals were alerted and put on standby to enter the track and recover the debris once all cars had passed Turn 1.
“As soon as it became clear that Lawson had made a pit stop, the instructions to send marshals were withdrawn and a double yellow flag was displayed in that area. We are still investigating what happened afterwards.”
The FIA also explained the reason for the short Virtual Safety Car period late in the race after Carlos Sainz retired, temporarily pausing the battles for positions on the penultimate and final laps.
“On lap 70, Sainz spun and stopped in the drainage area on the outside of Turn 14. His car came to a stop in an exposed position. The car then began to smoke and race control received reports of a fire, making it clear that marshal intervention would be required for recovery. As is standard procedure when marshals are deployed to recover a car, the race is neutralized. In this case, a Virtual was Safety Car (VSC) activated until the car was moved to a safe location behind the barriers. The VSC ended once the car was in a protected position and the race ended under green flag conditions.”
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