Racing Bulls Liam Lawson reflects on his dangerous near miss with marshalls on track during his short lived F1 Mexico City GP appearance.
Liam Lawson suffered a difficult Mexico City GP having retired from the race on lap 5. Despite his limited running on track, the young VCARB driver was caught up in multiple incidents during his short stint.
Although not shown during the live broadcast, a key talking point following the Grand Prix was a dangerous near miss. Having pitted following a turn 1 incident with the Williams of Carlos Sainz, Lawson rejoined the circuit to find 2 marshalls in front of him. Speaking to the media following the Grand Prix, Lawson called the dangerous close call incident “unacceptable”.
“I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Lawson recalled following the Grand Prix in the print pen. “I boxed, came out on a new set of hards, and then I got to turn one and there were two dudes just running across the track and I nearly hit one of them.
“Honestly it was so dangerous and obviously there’s been a miscommunication somewhere but I’ve never experienced that before and I haven’t really seen that in the past so it’s pretty unacceptable.”
Continuing on, Lawson admitted the team could not understand the reasoning behind the incident. He stated firmly that marshalls entering a live F1 circuit cannot be allowed to happen.
“Yeah for sure, we obviously can’t understand how on a live track marshals can be allowed to just run across the track like that,” he stated. “So yeah I mean I have no idea why but I’m sure we’ll get some explanation but it really can’t happen again.”
The catalyst for the controversial close call was Lawson’s turn 1 coming together with Carlos Sainz. Reflecting on the race start, Lawson recalls opting for the outside line at turn 1. He then recounted Sainz moving across and making contact with the side of the VCARB 02.
Sustaining extensive damage to the side of his car, also needing a replacement front wing, Lawson was forced to retire.
“I had a really good start and then basically there was a lot of space on the outside so I filled the gap,” he recounted. “A lot of guys were sliding at turn one but I left plenty of space next to Carlos [Sainz] and I think he’s decided to cut the chicane but hasn’t looked left.
“I’m right there and he’s just driven on the side of me. It’s something that just sucks. I think you’ve got to have more awareness honestly but it’s destroyed the side of our car and meant that we had to retire.”
Lawson was then asked by the media if he would discuss the incident with Sainz. While it drew comparisons to Lawson’s collision with Sainz in Zanvoort, Lawson saw the incident in a different light.
Lawson explained he understands the chaos of lap 1, calling the collision “one of those things”. Despite this, he still held Sainz to account, suggesting the Spaniard should have more awareness of those around him.
“I mean there’s not really much I can say,” he replied. “I mean I don’t think he’s done it intentionally. I’m sure he’s not intentionally driven into me but it’s just one of those things. I mean I completely understand turn one on the first lap it’s chaotic but we’re all trying to be aware of what’s going on.
“You can’t just decide to cut the chicane without looking to your left because he’s hit me so hard that it’s just destroyed the whole side of the floor, broke my front wing and just killed our race. We were three seconds a lap off after that. I mean it’s just one of those things unfortunately.”
