Mexico’s motorsport federation has blamed Liam Lawson for the near-miss the Racing Bulls driver had with two marshals running across the track at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Lawson had just left the pits and turned into Turn 1 when he encountered the marshals on the track during a double-waved yellow period of the race, which requires drivers to slow their speed significantly.
Speaking to his Racing Bulls team on the radio immediately afterwards, Lawson said: “Wait, the f—, oh my god, are you kidding me? Did you see that? Oh my god, dude.”
Lawson later added: “I could have f—ing killed them, mate.”
The incident was not investigated by the FIA during the race and was not caught on the world feed of the event, a broadcast directed by Formula 1 itself and not the governing body.
The FIA promptly launched an investigation into why the two marshals had been running across a live track — a statement on Sunday evening said the order to go to collect debris had been withdrawn once Lawson had made his pit stop, which meant he was out of sequence with the main pack of cars.
Sunday’s FIA statement said: “Following a Turn 1 incident, Race Control was informed that debris was present on the track at the apex of that corner. On Lap 3, 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“As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had pitted, the instructions to dispatch marshals were rescinded, and a double yellow flag was shown in that area.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.”
That investigation into the incident is ongoing.
OMDAI Sport Mexico has pre-empted the release of those findings by deflecting the blame completely in the direction of Lawson, although it does not acknowledge whether the FIA had rescinded the order for marshals to be on the track.
“When analysing the sequence from the camera onboard the car, it can be seen that driver Liam Lawson, as he approaches Turn 1, begins to turn to take the racing line, at which point the presence of the track marshals is clearly visible as they carry out their intervention procedures to collect the pieces that had been left behind as a result of the previous contact,” the statement said.
“The proximity of the car to the work area shows that the track marshals were still active within the risky area, performing cleaning and safety tasks on the circuit. 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.”
Onboard footage of Lawson’s car and his in-car radio suggests the New Zealander did not see the marshals until the very last moment, with them running across the path of his car immediately after he turned into the Turn 1 right-hander.
When approached for comment, Lawson’s team Racing Bulls declined, pointing out that the FIA investigation is still ongoing.
ESPN has reached out to the FIA for comment.
