Mexico’s motorsport federation OMDAI has put blame on Liam Lawson for the incident in F1 Mexico GP, when he came close to hitting a track marshal.
After the incident between Visa Cash App RB’s Lawson and Carlos Sainz on Lap 1 in F1 Mexico GP, the Kiwi was forced to pit for a front wing change due to damage in subsequent laps. The debris was all over at Turn 1-2, which forced the race director to get it cleaned up.
They put the track under double yellows when Lawson pitted to change his front wing. He was informed on the radio about marshals on track, but it was too late by then as he already came close to hitting them. The Kiwi was shocked to find them and the pictures looked dramatic as well.
The incident wasn’t aired on the world feed, neither did the commentators made any note of it. However, the FIA, released a statement post-race, noting that they informed of Lawson in the pits, as they wanted the marshal to not venture onto the track to collect the debris on that lap.
But there was some communication gap and the incident took place. It is unclear but it seems like it was too late to retract the marshal as it happened quick in real-time. The FIA are still investigating the matter, but OMDAI has put most of the blame on Lawson for nearly killing the marshal.
In lengthy description with pictures, OMDAI released its own version of how things panned out, blaming Lawson for not slowing down enough despite the information on radio about marshals on track. They allege that his steering wheel showed no change to move away, even though marshals were visible.
They show that he continued to take the racing line and paid no regard to the marshals. “As a result of the contact that occurred on arrival at Turn 1 between Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson, several parts of the car came loose, leaving debris scattered across the track, requiring the intervention of the track marshals to remove them and thus ensure the safety of the other drivers in the race,” the description from OMDAI started.
“Following contact at Turn 1 between the yellow Williams (Carlos Sainz) and the yellow Racing Bulls (Liam Lawson), driver Lawson entered the pits on Lap 3 to repair the damage to his car. During this time, track marshals were collecting the debris that had been scattered across the track as a result of the incident. Upon rejoining the track, Lawson encountered Panel 3 displaying “double yellow flags”, the team alerts the driver by radio message, as well as the track marshals’ post waving physical double yellow flags, indicating the presence of danger and personnel working on the circuit.
“In accordance with Appendix H of the FIA’s International Sporting Code, Article 2.5.5, the meaning of this signal is, ‘Reduce your speed significantly, do not overtake, and be prepared to change direction or stop. There is a hazard wholly or partly blocking the track and/or marshals working on or beside the track’. It should be noted that the Racing Bulls team informed the driver that there was debris on the track and that this section was under a double yellow flog, so that he should take extreme precautions when driving through the area.
“Therefore, at that moment, the driver had to significantly reduce his speed, refrain from overtaking, and be prepared to stop if necessary, in compliance with current safety regulations. When analysing the sequence from the camera on board 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 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,” it summed up.
Here’s FIA and Liam Lawson on the incident
